George Clooney debuts rugged new look in first images from The Midnight Sky

A pensive George Clooney sports a rugged beard in the first photos from his forthcoming film, The Midnight Sky.

The Hollywood star, 59, directs and stars in the post-apocalyptic tale of science and space travel.

He plays Augustine, a lonely scientist working in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully, played by Felicity Jones, and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

One image shows Clooney clasping a mug as he stares out of a window, while another pictures Jones in a space suit as she takes part in a zero gravity walk outside her ship.

A third shows Clooney on set at Shepperton Studios, Surrey, with co-stars David Oyelowo and Tiffany Boone in space suits.

Adapted from Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel Good Morning, Midnight, the film also stars Kyle Chandler and Demian Bichir.

The novel explores themes of isolation and community, and is described as the “story of two outsiders grappling with love, sacrifice, and regret at the end of the world”.

This week Clooney joined other celebrities in condemning a decision to charge only one of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, in the US.

Taylor, a 26-year-old hospital worker, was shot and killed by police in Louisville on March 13 after they burst into her home and fired multiple bullets.

Her death had become a rallying cry for activists, including high-profile celebrities, demanding charges against the officers involved.

The Midnight Sky is released in December 2020 on Netflix.