After starring as Neil Armstrong for director Damien Chazelle's biographical space drama FIRST MAN, Ryan Gosling is once again looking to take to the skies for a big screen adaptation of the Andy Weir novel The Hail Mary. If Weir's name sounds familiar, it's likely due to the fact that he also wrote The Martian, which has since been adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Kristen Wiig, among several others.
Sources close to The Hail Mary film deal have said that MGM is looking to obtain the exclusive rights courtesy of a 7-figure tune. Gosling will produce with Ken Kao in addition to starring in the film.
Details about the plot are surprisingly thin, though I suspect that this is to avoid any major spoilers. In what we know about the story so far, The Hail Mary centers on a the tale of a lone astronaut who is tasked with saving the planet. Like I'd said, thin, but there you go nonetheless.
CAA is is charge of the book deal with David Fugate of Launch Books. Meanwhile, the book is currently set for a publishing debut next spring.
We'll be sure to bring you details about this project as it develops.