About a year ago, Cabin In The Woods’ helmer Drew Goddard attached himself to direct The Martian. However in recent months he’s become very busy agreeing to direct the pilot episode of Netflix’s Daredevil series, and signing up to be at the reigns for Spider-man spin-off Sinister Six.
As a result he dropped off The Martian due to Fox being unwilling to wait for his schedule to free up. However the project is still alive and kicking with the news, via TheWrap, that Matt Damon is circling the sci-fi flick.
Based on the e-book by Andy Weir, The Martian ‘follows an astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars and must figure out how to survive long enough to return to Earth.’
The movie has been described as a cross between Apollo 13 and Cast Away. Interestingly it also seems that those behind the film are keen to say it’s very different from Gravity, as the premise is bound to make some people wonder whether this film will end up as Cuaron’s film’s poor cousin.
Damon’s involvement apparently revolves around whether they can get a director interested who the actor is happy to work with. Fox wants to move forward quickly, and is currently looking for the right helmer.