MGM has chosen Phil Lord and Chris Miller to direct and produce the film adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s next novel, which sees Ryan Gosling in a starring role. Amy Pascal has also reportedly signed on as a producer for the film and joins Gosling and Ken Kao as well as Weir.
As many know, the director duo of Lord and Miller have quite a long-running relationship with Pascal, most recently winning an Oscar together as producers on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sources close to Variety says that the business relationship helped in getting the manuscript to Lord and Miller. Reports even say that Gosling finished reading the manuscript and quickly began lobbying to execs in hopes of getting Lord and Miller on the project.
“All of us at MGM are incredibly excited by this literal dream team coming together around Andy’s astounding novel. With their masterful ability to balance drama, action, and humor, Phil and Chris are the perfect filmmakers to take on this unique material. We are thrilled to have them partner with Ryan, Ken, Andy, Amy, and Aditya to bring this movie to life for big screens everywhere,” said MGM chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with this dream team of filmmakers. Mike, Chris, Phil, Ryan, Andy, and Aditya are all the best of the best in their fields. I can’t wait to get going on this amazing project with them,” added Pascal.
Andy Weir’s upcoming book is currently untitled and is being referred to as Project Hail Mary. The book and film are described as a solitary tale of an astronaut on a space ship who is tasked with saving the planet.
Gosling recently ventured into space as Neil Armstrong in the 2018’s biographical drama First Man.
