Ad Astra sends Brad Pitt to space in mysterious first trailer

It’s been relative radio silence on Ad Astra, the long-coming space drama from the writer/director behind dramatic gems like The Lost City of Z, James Gray. It lost its initial premiere date, and with a cast stacked with figures like Brad Pitt, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, and Tommy Lee Jones, it’s been a little weird that the film — which was supposed to premiere in both January and May of 2019 but is now scheduled for the fall — has remained so secretive. But now fans can finally get a first look at the sci-fi film thanks to its first trailer.

A little Interstellar, a little Gravity, with a dash of Heart of Darkness thrown in for good measure, Ad Astra sends Roy McBride (Pitt) on a hunt for his lost father (Jones), and the edges of space are inhospitable to both life and hope. The first trailer introduces fans to a mission searching for alien life, which may give a clue as to why McBride’s father disappeared in the first place.

Check it out:

Alien substances, an approaching armageddon, and a delightfully dry robot voice — what’s not to like? And wait, was that a gunfight on the moon? Let's take a breather and look at the poster:

Source: 20th Century Fox

And that final conversation, seemingly between Pitt and Jones, only makes the mystery more engrossing. They definitely find each other ... but what does it mean — and what did they discover out on the fringes of space?

Fans can finally find out when Ad Astra premieres on Sept. 20.