{"id":656472,"date":"2026-05-07T22:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656472\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:59:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:59:26","slug":"brendan-fraser-joins-sci-fi-thriller-starman-from-josh-wakely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656472\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Fraser Joins Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Starman’ From Josh Wakely"},"content":{"rendered":"

A career revival that already feels unusually varied is heading back into genre territory. Brendan Fraser<\/a> has spent the past few years moving between prestige drama, comedy, and franchise fare, and his latest role looks set to push that balance even further, this time centered on isolation and survival.<\/p>\n

Deadline<\/a> reports that Fraser is set to star in Starman, a cosmic sci-fi thriller written and directed by Emmy winner Josh Wakely. In the film, Fraser will play Tom Adams, a visionary technologist described as an “architect of the future,” who leads a historic mission to Mars before unforeseen events leave him stranded millions of miles from Earth. What begins as a landmark expedition turns into a race against time, with the story framed by love as much as by survival.<\/p>\n

\"Brendan
\n Searchlight Pictures<\/p>\n

It’s an effective premise for Fraser at this point in his career. On the surface, Starman has the scale of a conventional space thriller, but the setup suggests something more contained and emotionally focused than the usual effects-heavy sci-fi spectacle. That also makes it a smart fit for Wakely, whose previous credits include Beat Bugs and Motown Magic, and who is taking on both writing and directing duties here.<\/p>\n

What makes Starman especially interesting is where it lands within Fraser’s current slate. He is no longer in the position of needing to prove the comeback is real<\/a> \u2014 instead, the choices themselves are starting to define what that comeback actually looks like. The answer appears to be a mix of awards-friendly dramas and accessible star vehicles.<\/p>\n

Before Starman gets underway, Fraser will be seen in Pressure<\/a>, which is set for release on May 29, and casts him as Dwight D. Eisenhower in a World War II drama. He’s also part of Andy Garcia\u2019s Diamond, starring alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray, which is set to premiere at Cannes.<\/p>\n

\"Brendan
\n Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

Then there’s the larger franchise play still waiting in the wings. The Mummy 4 has moved up its release date<\/a> to Oct. 15, 2027, with Fraser set to reprise Rick O\u2019Connell alongside Rachel Weisz. That project is the clearest nod to the adventure-star image many audiences still associate with him, while Starman heads in a quieter and more uncertain direction.<\/p>\n

That contrast is what makes this announcement worth watching. Fraser is not simply revisiting former strengths or chasing one kind of prestige role after The Whale. Starman sits in a more interesting middle ground, commercially viable, emotionally contained, and built around a lead performance rather than a huge franchise engine.<\/p>\n

\"the-mummy-4-upcoming-film-logo-placeholder.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 19, 2028<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Coggeshall<\/p>\n

Producers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein, Sean Daniel, William Sherak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A career revival that already feels unusually varied is heading back into genre territory. Brendan Fraser has spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344],"class_list":["post-656472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}