“Ad Astra” isn’t your typical sci-fi film. Sure, you may watch a trailer and think that the film reminds you of Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar.” But believe us, it’s not like that at all. Then you might begin watching the film and immediately see reminders of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But again, “Ad Astra” isn’t trying to rip off Kubrick. The film is unique and thus, it makes sense that Fox is going with a marketing campaign that is fairly atypical.
As seen in the new trailer (if you want to call it that) for “Ad Astra,” Fox has decided to eschew the typical marketing tropes. There are no pull quotes from reviewers. No overview of the plot. You won’t find any teases to big action pieces. But the new ad, titled “Sounds of Space,” is more like a music video, as the footage from the film is accompanied by a score from musician Dev Hynes.
What you end up with is an almost-two-minute spot promoting the film that can also be viewed on its own as a beautiful music video featuring Hynes pulling real sounds from space and creating something wholly unique, which again is fitting for “Ad Astra.”
To truly understand how respected Hynes is, all you have to do is look at a short selection of the musicians that have worked with him on projects, including Solange Knowles, Sky Ferreira, FKA twigs, Haim, Florence and the Machine, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Chemical Brothers, Kylie Minogue, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller, Blondie and Mariah Carey. There’s no denying that some of the biggest names in the industry recognize his talent.
The film stars Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones. The space epic is written and directed by James Gray.
“Ad Astra” is set to arrive in theaters on September 20.
Here’s the synopsis:
A paranoid thriller in space that follows Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) on a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.
