Ridley Scott in talks to direct Matt Damon in The Martian

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

BLADE RUNNER, ALIEN, and PROMETHEUS helmer Ridley Scott is in negotiations to direct Matt Damon in THE MARTIAN, an outer space adventure project being made by 20th Century Fox, according to THR.

Scott would be sitting in the chair vacated by Drew Goddard, who was attached to the project last year but left due to his directing commitments for Sony’s SINISTER SIX .Scott will also become a producer on the project, joining Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood, who originally found the book the movie will be adapted from.

Goddard wrote the adaptation of the Andy Weir book and it looks like his screenplay will remain for now. Here’s the book description for THE MARTIAN:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

I get a very GRAVITY-esque vibe from the description, which isn't at all a bad thing.

No word yet as to how this film would affect Scott's involvement in PROMETHEUS 2, if at all. Personally, I'd like to see him tackle both THE MARTIAN and PROMETHEUS 2 back-to-back, but that will remain to be seen.