Orion sci-fi thriller sets U.S. release for this fall

Orion, a new sci-fi thriller likened to Project Hail Mary and Arrival, will reach U.S. theaters later this year after being acquired by Blue Harbor Entertainment. The film follows an amnesiac astronaut played by Drew Van Acker who has returned to Earth and faces interrogation from a NASA agent portrayed by Andrew McCarthy as officials try to determine how most of the crew died before the spacecraft crash-landed.

Orion premiered at the FilmQuest festival in Provo, Utah in 2025 and earned 11 festival nominations, winning Best Visual Effects and Best Actor for Van Acker. Director Jaco Bouwer said he was drawn to the script because it "weaponizes restraint," calling the movie "a chamber-piece thriller dressed in the costume of science fiction, where the real frontier isn’t the cosmos, it’s what’s hiding inside the man across the table." Debby Ryan also stars, and the screenplay was written by first-time writer Anne Vithayathil.

Not based on a pre-existing IP, Orion is set for a U.S.

United States, Provo, Utah

orion, sci-fi, thriller, van acker, andrew mccarthy, debby ryan, jaco bouwer, blue harbor, nasa, filmquest