Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn will join Natalie Portman in Fox Searchlight’s now-untitled drama from Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley.
The astronaut drama is assembling an A-list flight crew, including Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz and Dan Stevens, as well as Portman.
Formerly titled Pale Blue Dot, the film centers on a married astronaut (Portman) who returns to Earth after a mission and begins an affair with a fellow astronaut (Hamm). She heads into a downward spiral as she loses her connection to her family — a condition that can afflict those who spend a long time in space — and when her lover begins another affair with an astronaut trainee (Beetz).
Stevens plays Portman’s husband, while Burstyn will play Portman’s salty and tough grandmother.
Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi wrote the feature that is inspired by a true-life astronaut love triangle in which a female mission specialist tried to kidnap a rival in 2007.
Burstyn was last seen in Sundance drama The Tale, which recently had its premiere on HBO. A veteran Oscar-winning actress, she appeared in classics such as The Exorcist and more recently in the show House of Cards. She is repped by ICM Partners and MGMT.
