One of the more intriguing Netflix projects on the way in 2024 is Chernobyl director Johan Renck's sci-fi movie, Spaceman, which stars Adam Sandler (Funny People, Leo, Uncut Gems) in a rare dramatic role.
Sandler plays an astronaut named Jakub who comes to the realization that his marriage may be over while he's on an extended mission in the depths of space. Despondent and with nobody to discuss his problems with, Jakub encounters a "mysterious creature" (Paul Dano) on his ship, who helps him work through his marital issues.
The streamer has now released the first teaser trailer, but it doesn't really give us any more to go on, as we see Jakub making his way through a stream surrounded by a lush green forest, while Hanuš' voiceover tells us that the mysterious alien(?) "fled my planet; made my way through galaxies, through black holes, through time. And then I found... you."
“Paul was the first thing that came up in thinking about [the creature],” Renck said in a recent interview. "He has this peculiar cadence when he’s speaking, his careful formulation of words, and his very unique voice.”
Will Jakub's otherworldly stowaway turn out to be real, or simply a figment of his imagination? If you've read the book, you'll know the answer, but we're not giving anything away here!
Check out the teaser promo along with some new stills at the links below.
The official synopsis reads: “Six months into a solitary research mission to the edge of the solar system, an astronaut, Jakub (Adam Sandler), realizes that the marriage he left behind might not be waiting for him when he returns to Earth. Desperate to fix things with his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), he is helped by a mysterious creature from the beginning of time he finds hiding in the bowels of his ship. Hanuš (voiced by Paul Dano) works with Jakub to make sense of what went wrong before it is too late.”
Colby Day penned the script, which is based on the 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Czech author Jaroslav Kalfař. This adaptation is executive produced by Ben Ormand, Renck and Barry Bernardi. Producers include Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, Peter Kiernan, Michael Parets, Tim Headington, Lia Buman and Max Silva.
“Spaceman began as a short story that I wrote in my last year of college,” Kalfař tells Netflix. “Originally, it was just a punch line about an American astronaut who was stranded in orbit when he received a call from his wife asking for a divorce.”
Spaceman also stars Kunal Nayyar, Lena Olin, and Isabella Rossellini, and is set to premiere on Netflix on March 1, 2024.