Drew Goddardis coming aboardRyan Gosling’s new astronaut movieHail Maryto help directorsPhil LordandChris Millercrack the sci-fi story.
The project is based on an upcoming novel fromThe MartianauthorAndy Weir, who saw that book adapted for the screen by Goddard, so clearly the two scribes are on the same creative wavelength. Goddard hasn’t formally agreed to write the screenplay yet given his busy schedule, but he may take the writing reins going forward. For now though, he’s just working on the story with Lord and Miller according tothe Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news.
Hail Maryis expected to find Gosling playing an astronaut who wakes up on his spaceship with no memory. Not only is millions of miles away from home, but his two crewmates are both dead, and oh yeah, he’s humanity’s only hope for survival from an extinction-level threat.
Lord and Miller are producing with Gosling andKen Kao, as well asAmy PascalandAditya Sood, the latter of whom runs the directors' production company Lord Miller. MGM acquired the rights toHail Maryfor $3 million, so the project is a high priority for the studio. No wonder MGM is turning to Goddard early on in the development process, getting his take on the project even if he doesn’t have time to write it himself.
I really like the way this project is coming together, I’m just still not sure what the tone is ultimately going to be. IsHail Marya serious “man saves the world” movie or one that’s more tongue-in-cheek? That was my initial read on things after the comedically-minded Lord and Miller signed on to direct, though Goddard strikes me as a more dramatically-minded writer. Now that they’re working together, perhaps they’ll strike the perfect balance.
Goddard is the writer-director ofThe Cabin in the WoodsandBad Times at the El Royale. He has major geek cred, having worked as a writer onLost,Buffy the Vampire SlayerandAlias, and created Netflix’sDaredevil. In addition toThe Martian, his feature writing credits includeWorld War ZandCloverfield.
You know what would bereallycool? This is just a theory… but remember how MGM’sMichael De Lucahad to approach Universal’sDonna Langleyfor her blessing to hire Lord and Miller after the duo just signed a rich first-look deal at Universal? Well the two studios will be sharing Gosling betweenHail Maryand Universal’s high-profile Wolfman movie in the future. Wouldn’t it be cool if Goddard signed on to direct Wolfman, but it wasn’t quite ready to go yet, so he had time to work with Gosling on this astronaut movie? Just food for thought!Click hereto read more about the Wolfman project, which sounds pretty cool.
