As an actor, George Clooney has explored outer space with filmmakers Steven Soderbergh (Solaris) and Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity).

As a filmmaker, Clooney appears to have been equally inspired by both Oscar-winning directors (along with a dash of intense ER personal drama via Mimi Leder), or so the first trailer for Netflix’s post-apocalyptic sci-fier The Midnight Sky seems to suggest.

Equal parts soulful and epic, Clooney stars as an arctic-bound scientist desperate to send a message to a U.S. space mission in search of a new planet for humans to live on, following a catastrophic collapse of the Earth’s ecosystem (the cause is a mystery, but I’m guessing it’s either climate change and a pandemic). Clooney also directs.

The astronauts are played by Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Demián Bichir, Tiffany Boone, and Kyle Chandler.

Based on the book by Lily Brooks-Dalton, Clooney’s visual scale looks like one best experienced on the biggest screen you can find. Be on the lookout for one possibly near you when The Midnight Sky opens this December in select theaters before streaming worldwide on Netflix December 23, 2020.

(For more images of The Midnight Sky, click here.)

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THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) George Clooney as Dr Augustine Lofthouse.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Demian Bichir as Sanchez and Kyle Chandler as Mitchell. Cr. Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

A Space Shuttle flies near a space station in THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020), from actor/director George Clooney.

The world’s ecosystem has collapsed in THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020), from actor/director George Clooney.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) George Clooney as Dr Augustine Lofthouse treking across an arctic landscape.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Caoilinn Springall as Iris and George Clooney as Augustine. Cr. Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX ©2020

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Demian Bichir as Sanchez and Tiffany Boone as Maya. Cr. Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX ©2020

A space mission encounters trouble in THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020), from actor/director George Clooney.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Kyle Chandler co-stars as Mitchell, leader of a space mission to find a new inhabitable planet.

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) Director George Clooney on set at Shepperton Studios with David Oyelowo and Tiffany Boone on the set of The Midnight Sky. Cr. Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX ©2020

One Sheet Poster for THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020) George Clooney as Dr Augustine Lofthouse.