Phil Lord & Chris Miller to direct Ryan Gosling in astronaut thriller

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Ryan Gosling is heading back to space as Variety has reported that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are slated to direct and produce a film adaptation of "The Martian" author Andy Weir's upcoming novel for MGM. The as-yet-untitled novel is being referred to as "Project Hail Mary" and is said to tell the solitary tale of an astronaut on a space ship who is tasked with saving the planet. The novel is slated to be published in the spring of 2021.

Variety's sources say that Ryan Gosling managed to read the manuscript, and before he had even finished it, was already lobbying MGM executives to hire Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for the project. "All of us at MGM are incredibly excited by this literal dream team coming together around Andy’s astounding novel. With their masterful ability to balance drama, action, and humor, Phil and Chris are the perfect filmmakers to take on this unique material and we are thrilled to have them partner with Ryan, Ken, Andy, Amy and Aditya to bring this movie to life for big screens everywhere," said MGM's Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy in a statement. Amy Pascal, who is also onboard to produce the project, added, "I couldn’t be more excited to be working with this dream team of filmmakers. Mike, Chris, Phil, Ryan, Andy and Aditya are all the best of the best in their fields. I can’t wait to get going on this amazing project with them."

The big-screen adaptation of Andy Weir's "The Martian" from director Ridley Scott was an enormous success, grossing over $630 million worldwide and snagging more than a few prestigious nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Matt Damon. You would imagine that MGM is feeling hopeful that this new astronaut thriller might chart a similar course. Ryan Gosling's last film was Damien Chazelle's FIRST MAN, a Neil Armstrong biopic which followed the years leading up the the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. Unfortunately, FIRST MAN didn't exactly reach the heights of THE MARTIAN from a box-office stand-point, but Gosling is clearly up for more space action.