The Cabin the Woods director Drew Goddard appears to have found his next project. The Wrap reports that Goddard is in talks to helm 20th Century Fox's big screen adaptation of Andy Weir's 2012 e-book publication The Martian.

The book, which is currently unavailable pending a print edition from Random House in 2014, is simply described as being, "The adventures of an astronaut stranded on Mars."

Although Cabin was Goddard's directorial debut, he's also well-known as a screenwriter, having worked on television shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," and "Alias" and feature film projects like Cloverfield and the upcoming World War Z.

Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood are attached to produce The Martian.

With Goddard officially off the film, 20th Century Fox is now looking for other directors for the project. Based on an e-book by Andy Weir, the story revolves around an astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars and must figure out how to survive long enough to return to Earth. It’s described as a cross between Apollo 13 and Cast Away, but The Wrap’s report notes that it’s apparently “quite different” from Gravity. Goddard penned the script for The Martian, but it’s unclear if the studio will be starting over from scratch when it enlists a new filmmaker.

In searching for a new director, Fox is keeping Matt Damon in mind. Damon is their top choice to star in the project, and they’d like to bring in a filmmaker that would potentially make Damon eager to sign on. Damon appears later this year in director Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi film Interstellar, but beyond that he hasn’t officially set any other projects for the coming months. Should he commit to The Martian, the project would reunite him with Elysium producer Simon Kinberg

Ridley Scott is in negotiations to direct Matt Damon in The Martian, an outer space adventure project being made by 20th Century Fox.

Scott is sitting in the chair vacated by Drew Goddard, who left the project due to his directing commitments for Sony’s Sinister Six, the planned Spider-Man spin-off.

Scott will also become a producer on the project, joining Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood, who originally found the book the movie will be adapted from.

Martian was written by Andy Weir and self-published by Amazon on Sept. 27, 2012. Goddard wrote the script.

Described as being in the vein of Robert Zemeckis’ Cast Away and Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (both of which starred Tom Hanks), Martian centers on an astronaut who is stranded on a Martian colony and struggles to survive. Back on Earth, NASA tries to mount a rescue mission.

At 77, Scott shows no signs of slowing down. The filmmaker, who counts Fox as his home turf, is in post on the Moses tale Exodus: Gods and Kings, starring Christian Bale and opening Dec. 12. Martian will be his 21st feature movie.

BlairCo wrote:

I don't know how to take this seriously.

Allstar wrote:Scott's next film confirmed.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entert ... 6927300254

I wonder if this means Prometheus 2 is canned?

Allstar wrote:Scott's next film confirmed.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entert ... 6927300254

I wonder if this means Prometheus 2 is canned?