James Gray Says ‘Ad Astra’ Voiceover Narration Was “Stupid” and Not His Decision

Last month, I reposted a 2019 piece I had written on the turbulent post-production process James Gray had to endure during “Ad Astra. Then, coincidentally, the following day, the filmmaker admitted it indeed wasn’t his cut of the film released in theaters and that there was studio interference.

Now, in an interview with Vulture, Gray elaborated further, implying, as suspected, that part of the studio’s interference had to do with Brad Pitt’s voiceover narration:

“I did not have final cut, so I could not say, ‘I don’t like it. That’s the way it is. […] Now, I was very upset about it because, as the writer-director, I felt that my view should win the day,” he said. “And when people start coming up to you and saying, ‘Why’d you do all that stupid voice-over?’ and you didn’t do it, that’s a very frustrating experience. But it’s not like I want people to hate the movie.”

So, there’s more confirmation. “Ad Astra” was taken away from Gray during the editing phase and he had absolutely no final say in how the film was being edited and what additional scenes were being shot. In fact, he wasn’t even part of the reshoots, another filmmaker was hired to direct the added scenes.

I had written more than three years ago that the main conflicts between Gray and 20th Century had to do with the studio inserting voiceover narration very late during the post-production process. In Gray’s first cut, McBride never goes into interior monologuing at all. Also, “more action” was added in and, at Brad Pitt’s insistence, flashbacks, starring Liv Tyler as Pitt’s ex-wife, we’re inserted.

When my piece ran three years ago, 20th Century quickly contacted me, denying the contents of what I wrote and told me to take it down. I ended up re-writing a tighter piece with less concise detailing of the post-production problems. I should have just stuck by my guns and kept the original.

The sci-fi epic was still well-received, with IndieWire’s very own David Ehrlich recently stating that if one didn’t like “Ad Astra” then they were just “dumb.” The film was a box-office failure in the US, earning just $50 million on a budget reported to be around $100 million.