Phil Lord and Chris Miller may finally finish a movie set in space! The filmmaking duo is set to direct and produce the untitled film adaptation of an astronaut-themed thriller novel by “The Martian” author Andy Weir, and they’re taking Ryan Gosling with them.
Variety reports that MGM has signed the directors to whelm the project, which doesn’t have a title at the moment given that the novel won’t come out until Spring 2021, but is being referred to as “Project Hail Mary.” The book is described as “a solitary tale of an astronaut on a space ship who is tasked with saving the planet.”
Reports of this project started back in March, when it was announced that MGM was spending millions on the rights to the novel, and Gosling was set to star and produce. According to Variety, Gosling was lobbying to work with Lord and Miller, but had to get Universal chairman Donna Langley‘s blessing, since the studio just signed a first-look deal with Lord and Miller.
“All of us at MGM are incredibly excited by this literal dream team coming together around Andy’s astounding novel, with their masterful ability to balance drama, action, and humor, Phil and Chris are the perfect filmmakers to take on this unique material and we are thrilled to have them partner with Ryan,” said MGM chief Michael De Luca and MGM film group president Pamela Abdy in a statement.
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Of course, Lord and Miller are no strangers to either space-set films, as the duo was notoriously fired from “Solo: A Star Wars Story” due to creative differences. They’re also no strangers to the works of Andy Weir, since they’re both teaming up with Weir himself for an untitled movie based on an original idea by Weir, and also developing an adaptation of his novel, “Artemis,” which is set on the first and only city on the moon.