Space travel blockbuster 'sails' to Neptune

Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt as an astronaut seeking his missing father, hit Chinese mainland theaters –including more than 660 Imax theaters -- on Dec 5.

The film was shortlisted for the Golden Lion award at the annual 76th Venice Film Festival earlier this year.

A directorial effort from James Gray, the film displays spectacular views of the solar system through the protagonist's interstellar odyssey from the Earth to the moon, then traveling from Mars to Neptune.

Foreign media reported Gray spent more than 10 years developing his dream project, and kept close contact with NASA and other space agencies.

Former astronaut Garrett Reisman, who flew two space missions in 2008 and 2010, served as a resource for Gray during the screenwriting process.

For the first time in film, Ad Astra depicts a war on the moon, and portrays human beings landing on the remote planet of Neptune, according to the movie's Chinese distributors.