Solaris is a 2002 American science fiction drama film written for the screen and directed by Steven Soderbergh, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, and starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone, with Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis and Ulrich Tukur in supporting roles. It is based on the 1961 science fiction novel of the same name by Polish writer Stanisław Lem. Reflecting on Andrei Tarkovsky's critically acclaimed 1972 film Solaris (which was itself preceded by a 1968 Soviet TV film), Soderbergh promised to be closer in spirit to Lem's novel. The film is set almost entirely on a space station orbiting the planet Solaris, adding flashbacks to the previous experiences of its main characters on Earth.