THE MARTIAN's Andy Weir, Simon Kinberg, and Ridley Scott Reunite For New Movie

20th Century Fox scored big with last year's The Martian, Ridley Scott's hit sci-fi film that earned a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. The studio is apparently looking to recapture lightning in a bottle, because Deadline reports that they've acquired an untitled pitch from author Andy Weir (who wrote the ebook on which The Martian was based) and they've hired Scott and producer Simon Kinberg to produce. Drew Goddard wrote the screenplay for The Martian, but Weir himself will handle those duties this time around. It's unclear whether Scott also plans to direct this movie in addition to producing, and I suspect it'll come down to what his schedule looks like when this project gets to the stage where it's ready to begin filming.

There aren't any official details about what this new film's story will entail, but I think it's fair to assume it'll be based on Weir's next book, which will have a female lead. He loosely described the plot to Smithsonian recently:

The book is another scientifically accurate story. The main character is a low-level criminal in a city on the moon. Her challenges are a mix of technical/scientific problems, as well as juggling personal interactions—staying a step ahead of the local police, working with shady and dangerous people to do illegal things.

Sounds pretty cool to me. Scott, Kinberg, and Goddard are reuniting for a western thriller called Wraiths of the Broken Land (which I'm very excited about; you can read about that project here), so it seems like all of these guys are pleased with their working relationship. Let's hope this new story is deserving of their combined talents.