If you're itching to see director Ridley Scott return to the realm of Science-Fiction, you're not going to have to wait very long. His latest project in development, THE MARTIAN, is based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir with a screenplay by Drew Goddard (WORLD WAR Z, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS). The story revolves around astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) as he's left for dead on the surface of Mars. Not content with giving up on life just yet, the scientist figures out ways to sustain his own life while trying to work out an escape plan. As if making a movie regarding space travel wasn't enough, the first page of the original draft featuring Ridley Scott's own illustration was sent up with NASA's Orion spacecraft when it launched earlier this month. Check out the cover page below!
Executive producer Aditya Sood had this to say:
NASA really rolled out the red carpet for us. In the capsule they had some personal objects that were important to people involved in the Orion project and one of the things was Ridley’s drawing on the cover page of THE MARTIAN script. This is a movie about people who are really passionate about science and space-travel, so that was a really great moment for us.
In the wake of GRAVITY AND INTERSTELLAR, pseudo-realistic stories taking place in space are making a lovely little comeback and I have no qualms with that! Even if PROMETHEUS didn't hit all the right for you, any Scott fan should be excited to see him return to the stars to deliver what's bound to be a fascinating survival film on foreign territory. Plus, watching Matt Damon say, "I'm going to science the shit out out of this planet" will be worth the price of admission!
THE MARTIAN, starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, and Sebastian Stan, is scheduled to hit theaters on November 25, 2015.