The first official trailer has dropped for Spaceman following a short teaser that debuted last month, and has a lot to offer for local fans. In addition to Prague landmarks and Czech flags, the new footage gives us the first taste of star Adam Sandler‘s Czech accent.
Based on Czech writer Jaroslav Kalfař‘s 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia (Kosmonaut z Čech), Spaceman was filmed in and around Prague during the summer of 2021. It stars Sandler as Jakub Procházka, an astrophysicist who becomes the Czech Republic’s fictional first astronaut and embarks on a lengthy journey into space.
Is Sandler donning a Czech accent? It’s not immediately apparent, but there’s definitely some inflection in lines like “I just want to come home,” which ends the trailer. But the film doesn’t shy away from his Czech origins, and proudly displays a Czech flag on his spacesuit.
Beyond Sandler’s performance and the Czech connections, the Spaceman trailer also gives us our first look at Isabella Rossellini as a European Space Program official, Carey Mulligan (who doesn’t appear to be going with a Czech accent) as Procházka’s wife Lenka, and a giant space spider voiced by Paul Dano. Spaceman also stars Kunal Nayyar as a member of the space program.
Local landmarks glimpsed in the Spaceman trailer include Prague’s CETIN (Central Telecommunications) building in Žižkov, a brutalist structure nicknamed “Mordor” for its oppressive, towering appearance over Prague 3. The film may be the last to feature the local landmark, which is slated to be fully demolished by 2025.
In Prague, Spaceman shot at locations including the Desfours Palace by the Florentinum business complex, the Zelený Pruh swimming pool, Prague Congress Center, and areas in Radotín.
Outside of Prague, Spaceman also shot at locations in Marianské Lázně, Černošice, Bystřice, Slapy, Jetřichovice, Bernartice, the Branov campsite, and rural areas in the Central Bohemian region south of the Czech capital.
Spaceman was directed by Johan Renck (Chernobyl), from a screenplay adapted from Kalfař’s novel by Colby Day. Stillking Films handled the Prague production of the film in the spring of 2021, while additional filming took place in New York City.
Spaceman will release on Netflix from Friday, March 1.
4 Responses
This movie is getting slated only b/c it stars Sandler and is playing on Netflix and not playing in film festivals. Beautiful film and made with such care, and not so different than Tarkovsky’s Solaris or at least the George Clooney remake.
Garbage sci-fi, way too heavy on relationship stuff despite giving us no reason to care about these characters. Huge letdown from Sandler after Uncut Gems and the director of Chernobyl.
Wannabe art movie as dull as Sandler’s performance. There’s no there, there
Did not detect any Czech accent by Sandler. Odd how self-serious this movie is, the accents from all of the characters is all over the map.