JUPITER ASCENDING releases this Friday, 6 February worldwide – the same day as the earth will pass more or less between the sun and the King of the Planets – Jupiter – placing Jupiter opposite the sun in our sky. Astronomers call this event an opposition of Jupiter and Jupiter will come closest to Earth on its opposition date… within 404 million miles (650 million kilometres) of Earth.
Jupiter rises at sunset, is highest in the sky at midnight and sets at dawn. It shines more brightly than any star in the evening sky, and is the second-brightest planet, after Venus. But Venus sets in the west at early evening while Jupiter stays out all night long.
This phenomenon is only expected to be repeated in 2019.
JUPITER ASCENDING tells the story of Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) who was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning toilets and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along—her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos.
From the streets of Chicago to far flung galaxies whirling through space, “Jupiter Ascending” is written and directed by the Wachowskis. Award-winning producer Grant Hill, with whom they have collaborated since “The Matrix” Trilogy, is producing, together with Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski. Roberto Malerba and Bruce Berman serve as executive producers.
“Jupiter Ascending” will showcase the kind of cutting-edge visual effects that have become the benchmarks of the Wachowskis’ films. Dan Glass (“Batman Begins,” “Cloud Atlas”) is the film’s visual effects supervisor, a post he has occupied for the Wachowskis since “The Matrix” Trilogy. Additionally, John Gaeta, the visual effects Oscar winner behind “The Matrix,” is contributing to the visual effects design.