It’s looking fairly concrete that the next Ridley Scott film we’ll be getting is The Martian (after the upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings of course). The film will star Matt Damon as an astronaut who is stranded on Mars and must find his way back home. The script was written by the amazing Drew Goddard (based on Andy Weir’s e-book turned Crown novel). And it could be good, I’m looking forward to seeing Scott work in a somewhat smaller scope. I mean, it’s a sci-fi movie set on another planet but it looks as though it’s sort of an intimate film in the vein of Cast Away.
Last week we had heard that Jessica Chastain and Kristen Wiig were in the mix to appear in the film. I’m not sure if that’s still the case (it’s possible that this movie has a big female cast, though I’m sure someone who has read the book would know better than I), but Kate Mara (House of Cards) has been offered a role in the film. Ridley Scott and Fox are aiming for a November 25th, 2015 release on this one, so they better get cracking. Especially since Scott intends to make Blade Runner 2 and Prometheus 2 right afterwards. Hit the jump for more.
Per Deadine, Mara has been offered an undisclosed role and things seem to be chugging along on track for the film. But what does the relatively recent emergence of The Martian in Scott's filmography really mean for the rest of his slate? I've been of the opinion for some time that we won't actually direct Prometheus 2, especially given the fact that he seems keen to get going on Blade Runner 2 despite the enormity of that project. Just a few months ago he went on record saying he loved the script written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green and that Harrison Ford would be in the film:
“[Blade Runner 2] is written and it’s damn good. Of course it involves Harrison, who is a survivor after all these years—despite the accident. So yes, that will happen.”
So, assuming that one goes, does Scott really want to commit to another sci-fi film? That would make it his third sci-fi in a row. And does he want to commit to another sci-fi sequel of one of his own properties? That's a lot of familiar ground for a notoriously searching director. No matter how good Michael Green's new draft of Prometheus 2 is, I sort of see Scott farming it out to another director and staying on as a producer at this point.
