What’s going on with James Gray‘s 20th Century Fox sci-fi film “Ad Astra” film starring Brad Pitt? That was the question on everyone’s minds for months until recently, when Disney/Fox pulled it from its May 2018 release date—you knew that wasn’t happening because there was zero marketing for the film.
READ MORE: ‘Ad Astra’ Officially Aiming For Fall As 20th Century Fox’s Prestige Slate Grows
A fall film date was planned and a potential fall film festival bow as well and that promise has been fulfilled. “Ad Astra” has now been dated for September 20, 2019, which is a date usually saved for smart dramas made by auteurs like “Sicario,” “The Sisters Brothers,” “Colette” and “Prisoners,” etc. These kinds of films tend to receive a lot of acclaim, but don’t turn into real Oscar players, but that’s ok, Gray’s movies rarely enter that conversation anyhow—they’re just good.
“Ad Astra” stars Brad Pitt and centers on an astronaut and an engineer who travels through the solar system to find his lost father who went missing twenty years on a one-way mission to Neptune in order to find signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence. His goal is to understand why his father’s mission failed.
“Ad Astra” also stars Ruth Negga, Jamie Kennedy, Donald Sutherland, and Tommy Lee Jones as the parental figure in question Max Richter wrote the score and “Interstellar” cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot the film. Gray has likened the film to an “Apocalypse Now“/”Hearts Of Darkness” travelogue into space, so expect something heady and ambitious—Gray’s a massive fan of Coppola and Stanley Kubrick as well.
It’s a good bet “Ad Astra” will turn up during the fall film festival season three weeks prior, either Telluride, Venice, Toronto International Film Festival or all three.
Meanwhile, Disney has unveiled more release dates from 20th Century Fox films they required earlier in the year and some of their own release date changes (and or confirmations of old dates). “Artemis Fowl” has been bumped a year (5/29/20), and Fox’s 2019 line-up rounds out with “The Woman in the Window” on Oct. 4 and “Ford V. Ferrari” on Nov. 15. Disney’s 2019 ends with “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” on Oct. 18 and Disney Animation’s “Frozen 2” on Nov. 22. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” arrives as planned on Dec. 20, and Blue Sky Studios’ “Spies in Disguise,” moving from September to Christmas.
Among early 2020 titles are Fox’s “Underwater” on Jan. 10, a new ‘Kingsman’ movie on Feb. 14, and “Call of the Wild” on Feb. 21, followed by Pixar’s “Onward” on March 6 and Disney’s “Mulan” on March 27.
Here’s the official release of 2019/2020 Fox and Disney film as of today. Note: all Marvel release dates are old.
2019 Films
5/10/19 FSL TOLKIEN
5/24/19 DIS ALADDIN
6/7/19 FOX DARK PHOENIX
6/21/19 DIS TOY STORY 4
7/12/19 FOX STUBER
7/19/19 DIS LION KING, THE
8/9/19 FOX ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, THE
8/23/19 FSL READY OR NOT
9/20/19 FOX AD ASTRA
10/4/19 FOX WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, THE
10/18/19 DIS MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL
11/15/19 FOX FORD v. FERRARI
11/22/19 DIS FROZEN 2
12/20/19 DIS STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Wed 12/25/19 FOX SPIES IN DISGUISE
2020 Films
1/10/20 FOX UNDERWATER
2/14/20 FOX UNTITLED KINGSMAN MOVIE
2/21/20 FOX CALL OF THE WILD
3/6/20 DIS ONWARD
3/27/20 DIS MULAN
4/3/20 FOX NEW MUTANTS, THE
5/1/20 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
5/29/20 DIS ARTEMIS FOWL
6/19/20 DIS UNTITLED PIXAR ANIMATION
7/3/20 FOX FREE GUY
7/17/20 FOX BOB’S BURGERS
7/24/20 DIS JUNGLE CRUISE
8/14/20 DIS ONE AND ONLY IVAN, THE
10/9/20 FOX DEATH ON THE NILE
11/6/20 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
11/6/20 FOX RON’S GONE WRONG
Wed 11/25/20 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY ANIMATION
12/18/20 FOX WEST SIDE STORY
Wed 12/23/20 DIS CRUELLA
2021 Films
2/12/21 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
3/5/21 FOX NIMONA
3/12/21 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
5/7/21 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
5/28/21 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
6/18/21 DIS UNTITLED PIXAR ANIMATION
7/9/21 DIS UNTITLED INDIANA JONES
7/30/21 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
10/8/21 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
11/5/21 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
Wed 11/24/21 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY ANIMATION
12/17/21 FOX AVATAR 2
2022 Films
2/18/22 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
3/18/22 DIS UNTITLED PIXAR
5/6/22 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
5/27/22 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
6/17/22 DIS UNTITLED PIXAR
7/8/22 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
7/29/22 DIS UNTITLED MARVEL
10/7/22 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
11/4/22 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
Wed 11/23/22 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY ANIMATION
12/16/22 DIS UNTITLED STAR WARS
2023 Films
2/17/23 DIS UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION
12/22/23 FOX AVATAR 3
2024 Films
12/20/24 DIS UNTITLED STAR WARS
2025 Films
12/19/25 FOX AVATAR 4
2026 Films
12/18/26 DIS UNTITLED STAR WARS
2027 Films
12/17/27 FOX AVATAR 5