The Space Between Us is a 2017 American romantic science fiction film directed by Peter Chelsom and written by Allan Loeb, from a story by Stewart Schill, Richard Barton Lewis, and Loeb. The film stars Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, and Carla Gugino, and follows a teenage boy, born on Mars, who travels to Earth. Principal photography began on September 14, 2015, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film was released on February 3, 2017, by STXfilms. It received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing $16 million against its $30 million budget.
Plot Multi-billionaire Nathaniel Shepard, CEO of Genesis, launches the first mission to colonize Mars. During the journey, astronaut Sarah Elliot discovers she is pregnant. She gives birth to Gardner after landing on Mars, and dies shortly afterwards from eclampsia; the father is unknown. Gardner is kept on Mars as a secret; they fear a public relations disaster and returning to Earth could be dangerous to his health. He is raised by astronaut Kendra Wyndham and the other scientists on Mars. Sixteen years later, Gardner hacks into a robot he helped build to gain access to his mother's personal belongings. He finds a wedding ring and a video of Sarah and a man in a beach house. Convinced that the man is his father, Gardner becomes determined to find him. Gardner regularly uses an Internet chatroom to talk to Tulsa, a street-smart girl from Colorado living in the foster-care system. He tells her he is confined to a penthouse due to osteogenesis imperfecta. They discuss their plans for the future and he promises to visit her someday. Kendra video calls Nathaniel and Genesis director Tom Chen; she says that Gardner is extremely intelligent and wants him to be allowed to go to Earth. Nathaniel refuses; Gardner would have to have a risky surgery to increase his bone density and train to adapt to Earth's atmospheric pressure. He both undergoes the surgery and training against Nathaniel's wishes and boards a shuttle for Earth with Kendra and several other astronauts. When they arrive on Earth, Nathaniel is angry at Tom, who kept Gardner's training a secret. Gardner is quarantined at NASA while undergoing medical tests to determine his fitness for life on Earth. He escapes before seeing the tests showing he cannot live on Earth very long, and finds Tulsa, convincing her to help him find his father. They are followed by Nathaniel and Kendra, who try to convince Gardner to return to NASA but he runs away with Tulsa and learns the location of the man who married his parents, Shaman Neka. Nathaniel and Kendra learn that Gardner's body contains dangerously high levels of troponin, indicative of an enlarged heart, which cannot withstand the atmospheric pressure of Earth; he must return to Mars immediately if he is to survive. Gardner confesses his true origins to Tulsa, who does not believe him. They find Neka, who lets Tulsa use his computer to locate the beach house from Gardner's video. They travel to Summerland, California, stopping in Las Vegas for fun, where Gardner collapses and is taken to a hospital. When X-rays show carbon tubes in his bones, Tulsa finally believes Gardner's claims of being born on Mars. Gardner knows he cannot survive on Earth, but wants to meet his father before he dies. Tulsa helps him sneak out of the hospital and they drive to the beach house; they meet the man from Gardner's video who is actually his uncle, not his father. Gardner thinks this is a lie and runs to the sea, telling Tulsa that this is where he wants to die, before collapsing. Nathaniel and Kendra arrive in time to save Gardner and pull him out of the ocean. Gardner asks Nathaniel about Sarah, then realizes Nathaniel is his father. They rush him to a Dream Chaser and launch into orbit, hoping this will stabilize Gardner. Free of Earth's gravity, he is revived. Soon after, Gardner boards a space shuttle to Mars after sharing an emotional parting with Tulsa. Kendra, who has retired from active flight status with NASA, adopts her. Determined to join Gardner on Mars, Tulsa joins Kendra's space training program. Gardner is seen back on Mars with Nathaniel.
Cast
Production In 1999, Universal Pictures and Mike Lobell Productions acquired a screenplay, then titled Mainland, about a rebellious teen born on the moon who desired to come to the earth but whose physiology, it was feared, would not be able to survive the transition. After failed rewrites by Allison Burnett (Autumn in New York), the project was placed on hiatus, as Lobell left Universal for a deal at Castle Rock Entertainment. The project remained unproduced for over a decade. On March 13, 2014, an industry source revealed that a science fiction-adventure film titled Out of This World was in development at Relativity Media, scripted by Allan Loeb. Later in August 2014, it was reported that Peter Chelsom, who had previously directed Hector and the Search for Happiness for Relativity, was hired to direct the film, while Relativity would produce and distribute. Southpaw Entertainment's Richard B. Lewis was attached to produce the film, and also received a "story by" credit. On February 2, 2015, Asa Butterfield was tapped to play the lead character in the film, a teen who was raised on Mars, and who falls in love with a girl on Earth he has been communicating with. Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay rewrote the screenplay. On July 13, 2015, it was announced that Relativity was selling the project to STX Entertainment, in order to reach an agreement with its creditors and avoid having to file for bankruptcy. STX produced and distributed the film. On July 31, 2015, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, and Britt Robertson joined the cast of the then-untitled film. Robertson would play the female lead, a teen girl from Colorado. On September 8, 2015, it was announced that the title of the film would be The Space Between Us, and B. D. Wong and Janet Montgomery were added to the cast. On September 30, 2015, Trey Tucker joined the film to play an astronaut, and on October 23, 2015, Scott Takeda was cast to play a doctor in the film.
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