Ridley Scott has been a busy man recently. He’s currently in post-production on his latest movie Exodus: Gods and Kings starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul and Sigourney Weaver for which he’ll have to do some major promotional work prior to it’s December 2014 release date. In between that he’s been dishing the dirt on two highly anticipated movies that he’s involved in, the sequels to Blade Runner and Prometheus. He’ll soon be starting pre-production on his next project The Martian and according to Variety his cast is about to bolster it’s ranks with the inclusion of Michael Pena (End Of Watch, American Hustle).
Pena is currently in talks for a role he is “very interested in” although it’s being reported that it may not work out due to his upcoming busy schedule. Pena will next pop up on the big screen in Brad Pitt’s World War II epic Fury which has been highly touted as gaining Oscar buzz. He’ll also be joining Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas in Ant-Man, due for release July 2015. If Pena does sign on he’ll be joining Matt Damon and possibly Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and Kristen Wiig who are all heavily rumoured for roles.
The Martian is based on a science fiction novel by American author Andy Weir about an astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars and must improvise in order to survive and find a way back home. The man behind the project is Simon Kinberg (X-Men Days Of Future Past) who brought the original book to Scott and pitched the idea of an adaptation. Kinberg will co-produce for Fox.
Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published September 25, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
