Brad Pitt is going to space. Ad Astra, which means ‘to the stars’ in Latin, is in pre production for New Regency. Co-written by Ethan Gross and James Gray who will also direct. Gray’s Lost City of Z starring Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson was well received earlier this year and this seems to be in a very similar vein.

The movie follows Roy McBride, an astronautics engineer who sets out on a mission to Neptune to discover what happened to his father, whow ent there 20 years earlier in search of alien life. Dad is reportedly going to be played by Tommy Lee Jones. Who, we would assume, will sanction no buffoonery.

It’s a great idea and we’re always up for some more Interstellar-style action. That being said the description of Roy as ‘slightly autistic’ has us worried. Done right, the character could be great. Done wrong, this could be full bore Oscar bait wrapped around a performance made entirely of tics and over-acting.

Only time will tell which we get but right now we’re certainly interested, especially as it looks like Pitt will jump straight from this to the David Fincher-directed World War Z 2.

Thanks to Deadline for the story and Den of Geek for the explanation about Jones’ attitude towards buffoonery.