Anytime a movie studio notches a big hit under their belt, they're always going to be eager to try catching lightning in a bottle again. They're down to out the same band back together again in the hopes that one hit becomes two and so on and so forth. That's why it should be no surprise to anyone that 20th Century Fox has struck a deal to secure the rights to S. Craig Zahler's WRAITHS OF THE BROKEN LAND with the intent that the team behind THE MARTIAN would adapt it for the big screen.
Sir Ridley Scott would get behind the camera to direct with Drew Goddard penning the script – the same formula that netted Fox $500+ million globally from their combined efforts last year. However, while THE MARTIAN was very much an uplifting underdog story, WRAITHS OF THE BROKEN LAND traipses into far darker territory. The Western revolves around an attempt to rescue two kidnapped sisters who have been forced into prostitution, so don't expect too many light moments built on Matt Damon growing poop potatoes.
Scott is said to have enjoyed his collaboration with Goddard on THE MARTIAN, and was eager to do it again if the right project came along. WRAITHS OF THE BROKEN LAND is it, so once ALIEN COVENANT is out of the way, I'd imagine much more commitment will be made to this particular project.