Ridley Scott to Direct Matt Damon in THE MARTIAN
Ridley Scott is currently in negotiations to direct Matt Damon in a sci-fi space adventure film called The Martian.
The Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard was attached to direct the film at one point, but he left the project to work with Sony Pictures on their Sinister Six movie.
The movie is based on the novel by Andy Weir, and THR describes it as "being in the vein of Robert Zemeckis’ Cast Away and Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (both of which starred Tom Hanks), Martian centers on an astronaut who is stranded on a Martian colony and struggles to survive. Back on Earth, NASA tries to mount a rescue mission."
Scott and Damon should make a great team on a project like this. It really sounds like it could be a great flick, and it has the right talent to bring it to life. Here's a detailed description from the book:
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?
The Martian will be Scott's 21st film. He's currently in production on his Moses epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, which stars Christian Bale.