Big-budget space opera Jupiter Ascending required leaps of faith from its stars

Andy and Lana (formerly known as Larry) Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending is being described as belonging to the new-fangled genre of "space opera" - a science-fiction action adventure with the inevitable futuristic gadgetry, but also featuring hefty doses of romantic drama and soapish sibling dramatics.

Written, produced and directed by the American siblings who brought us The Matrix trilogy, their latest ambitious offering promises to be a multi-layered and multi-dimensional intergalactic thrill-ride featuring scheming royal relatives with entitlement issues along with key characters with exotic DNA.

For a fan of science fiction such as Channing Tatum, signing up to work on Jupiter Ascending was a no-brainer. "I'm the guy that watches the Syfy Network. I love it."

Mila Kunis plays Jupiter Jones, who is plucked from her pretty forlorn life of cleaning houses in Chicago by Tatum's Caine Wise. A genetically engineered, ex-military, hunter alien who is part wolf, he spirits her off to his planet via a shimmering beam-like tube (no boring spaceships here.)

Caine has a plan: the three heirs-apparent to the House of Abrasax (one of whom is portrayed by The Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne), the most powerful dynasty in the galaxy, are planning to harvest (space-speak for kill) residents of earth to create an immortality serum. And Jupiter may be the only one who can stop them.

Kunis says she was drawn to the role because Jupiter becomes a superheroine, albeit not in the traditional sense. "It's not a physical power" Jupiter has, the actress says. "She just all of a sudden inherits a power that enables her to make decisions that put earth in danger. And Channing's character is kind of a bad-ass. He rescues me from a horrible situation and puts me on this very long journey … And he kind of takes his own journey, and through this journey they find respect for one another."