James Gray’s 2019 sci-fi film “Ad Astra” did not make it to theaters in the form he intended, the filmmaker said, adding that the movie was “taken away” from him by 20th Century Fox.
The director touched on the experience making the $80 million film within the Hollywood system in an interview with French media outlet Brut at the Cannes Film Festival, where he is promoting his latest film “Paper Tiger.” “Ad Astra” came up during the conversation as he noted that making “Paper Tiger” was much easier since it came with a much lower budget, enabling him to maintain artistic control.
“I control everything completely on this [‘Paper Tiger’] and, actually, I didn’t on ‘Ad Astra.’ That film was taken away from me. That’s not my cut of the movie,” he said. “You get into discussions and debates, there’s a studio, then the studio [20th Century Fox] got sold to Disney. You get caught in that stuff. The movie was $80 million, ‘Paper Tiger’ was $15 million.”
“Ad Astra” stars Brad Pitt as an emotionally withdrawn astronaut who is tasked to discover the source of cosmic rays emitting from Neptune that threaten life on Earth. The rays are believed to be connected to a mission led by the astronaut’s father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, whose heroic image hides a much darker truth.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, “Ad Astra” was a critical darling but didn’t go far at the box office, grossing $135 million against a reported $80 million budget.
Gray told Brut that he was still proud of certain elements of “Ad Astra,” but said that if he had a chance to do a director’s cut of the film, it would be a “very different movie.”
“It would be 12 minutes shorter. I’m the only director who makes a shorter director’s cut,” he said. “I hope someday I’ll do it. I mean, it’s obviously not up to me, but I would love to do it — it would be thrilling for me.”
Gray brought up “Ad Astra” to compare it to making the much cheaper “Paper Tiger,” where he maintained creative control and felt less pressure to recoup the production budget. “Paper Tiger” stars Adam Driver and Miles Teller as Gary and Irwin Pearl, two brothers whose pursuit of the American Dream gets them entangled in a Russian mafia scheme that endangers their family, including Irwin’s wife, Hester, played by Scarlett Johansson.
“I like to work on that scale because I don’t think it’s productive for people to just change your movie around and you get the blame anyway. [“Paper Tiger”] is entirely my doing. I’m to blame or to credit, depending on how you feel,” he said.
“Ad Astra” is available for digital rental on Prime Video and Apple TV. “Paper Tiger” has been acquired for theatrical distribution by Neon with a release date to be announced.
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