Adam Sandler heads off into space for Netflix’s cerebral-sounding sci-fi drama, Spaceman. There’s a brand new trailer to watch!
Update 17th January 2024: A new trailer has landed for Spaceman, Chernobyl director Johan Renck’s upcoming sci-fi film. Starring Adam Sandler, it’s coming to Netflix on the 1st March, and following on from the likes of Uncut Gems and Punch-Drunk Love, it looks like a more introspective, thoughtful performance from an actor better known for his broader-than-a-motorway comedies.
Also, Paul Dano provides the voice of a gigantic alien space spider, which turns up in Sandler’s interstellar craft to provide much-needed counselling as he pines after his estranged wife (Carey Mulligan). Sounds fabulous, doesn’t it? The new, full trailer looks fabulous too. And sounds it, thanks to a novel reimagining of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
Have a gander:
Our original story follows…
16th December 2023: In between the squawking, eye-rolling comedies that have made him a star, Adam Sandler has also put in some superb dramatic performances – Reign Over Me, Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems immediately spring to mind.
Due for release on Netflix in 2024, Spaceman will see Sandler in a similarly restrained mode. Based on the novel Spaceman Of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař, it’s about a lone astronaut named Jakub (Sandler) on the final leg of a mission in deep space. Estranged from his wife, he forges an unlikely friendship with an alien named Hanuš.
Spaceman’s director is Swedish musician turned filmmaker Johan Renck, whose career has been so varied it almost sounds made up: he was responsible for the 1993 hit single Here We Go, directed music videos for the likes of Madonna, Lana Del Rey and Kylie Minogue, and then turned to filmmaking with his 2008 debut, Downloading Nancy. That film led to some terrific work in TV, including episodes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and the underrated Halt And Catch Fire.
Renck’s real breakthrough, though, was arguably 2019’s Chernobyl – arguably among the most unsettling and effective TV dramas of recent years.
All of which gives us high hopes for Spaceman, which looks and sounds as though it’ll have a similarly low-key, sombre tone to Chernobyl.
Speaking to Netflix for its Tudum blog, Renck said of Sandler’s casting, “I really wanted to have a performance from him that had nothing to do with the Adam Sandler we all know. I don’t think people understand how [although] he may come across as funny and sweet and all that, he’s very intelligent, smart, profound.”
Joining Sandler in space is Paul Dano, who’ll provide the voice of Hanuš the alien, while back on Earth, Carey Mulligan and Isabella Rosellini will star as Jakub’s wife and commanding officer, respectively.
That’s one heck of a cast, we’re sure you’ll agree. The teaser trailer below doesn’t give away much, but then again, perhaps it doesn’t need to. Kalfař, the source novel’s author, says he’s “blown away” by the adaptation, adding that “I think all the people out there who love weird things and weird art will hopefully be delighted by it.”
Consider us fully signed up.
Spaceman will stream on Netflix from 1st March 2024.
