Ridley Scott is assembling an extraordinary cast for his next feature, The Martian, which is on the cusp of starting production. By the looks of things, he’s got a keen eye for sterling talent as Community quipster Donald Glover has signed on to join the impressive ensemble.
Based on the e-book by Andy Weir, the movie follows, Mark Watney who becomes one of the first people to ever walk on Mars! While that would make a pretty cool anecdote, he has a long way to go before he can tell anyone. After his crew leaves him for dead following a massive storm, he must dig into the depths of his very soul to survive.
Leading the charge will be Matt Damon, who has been attached to star as the doomed astronaut for some time. Assisting him from the ground as the NASA director will be Jeff Daniels, who jumped aboard last week. Today’s newest addition will be keeping Daniels company back on Earth, as The Wrap reports Glover has signed on to play a young NASA employee.
Immediately, in my mind I’m picturing the comedy actor buddying up to Daniels and making a whole host of meta gags, much like his Community counterpart, which is a bit unfair! It’ll be refreshing to see him taking part in a drama, and I’m looking forward to seeing his work after graduating from Greendale.
Today’s news has also confirmed a slew of other names who’ll be appearing alongside Glover. In recent months we’ve heard rumours about Jessica Chastain and Kristen Wiig circling the project, talk of Kate Mara signing on to snag the lead and word that Michael Pena might be involved. Of course, those reports have so far gone unconfirmed. Now we know who’s onboard and who they’re playing! Chastain will play the leader of the rescue mission, Mara and Pena will be in the shuttle with Damon as astronauts and Wiig is tackling the tricky task of NASA’s director of media relations.
Is anyone else getting a little giddy about this? Now, there’s always plenty of rumours about movies with big buzz, and The Martian has been no different. But now we know that that dreamy line-up is actually happening, it feels a bit too good to be true. I will always support talented female actors, and promote female visibility in film. It’s important, because equality is important. Ridley Scott knows this too, as the director has a history of casting strong women in key roles. Now that I’m thinking about it, I suppose the news shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. But I’m still going to get very, very excited about this film indeed. Who’s with me?
The Martian lands on November 25th, 2015. You can check out the official synopsis below:
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?