'The Martian' trailer: Matt Damon stars in what could be the next sci-fi hit
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
A new trailer has been released for the upcoming science fiction film 鈥淭he Martian.鈥�
鈥淭he Martian鈥� stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on Mars by his crew, who are convinced he's dead. He must try to contact NASA and remain alive until he gets help.
The movie is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Andy Weir and is directed by sci-fi legend Ridley Scott, who also helmed such movies as 鈥淏lade Runner鈥� and 鈥淎lien.鈥�
The new trailer shows Mark attempting to survive in a difficult climate and also offers glimpses of the movie鈥檚 star-studded cast, which includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara, Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Donald Glover, Michael Pe帽a, and Kristen Wiig. (Those who check out the trailer above should be aware of brief language.)
The movie is set for release this October and continues the trend of studios releasing big-budget science fiction films in the fall. The probable reason for this? Look no further than 鈥淕ravity,鈥� the 2013 film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney about astronauts stranded in space that became a frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar prize and the sixth-highest-grossing movie of the year domestically.聽
A fall release date worked for another sci-fi movie last year, too. 鈥淚nterstellar,鈥� which opened in November and centered on a desperate hunt for another habitable planet, became the 16th-highest-grossing film of the year. 鈥淚nterstellar鈥澛燼lso benefited from having director Christopher Nolan鈥檚 name attached to it (in addition to the box office performance of his 鈥淒ark Knight鈥� trilogy, he鈥檚 proven he can bring in audiences for original stories such as 鈥淚nception鈥�), and the movie performed solidly against such competition as the animated Disney movie 鈥淏ig Hero 6鈥� and the comedy sequel 鈥淒umb and Dumber To.鈥澛�
So now studio 20th聽Century Fox is trying to make 鈥淢artian鈥� another fall science fiction success. All signs point to it doing respectably, at the very least. While some recent projects of Mr. Scott鈥檚 like the 2014 movie 鈥淓xodus: Gods and Kings鈥� and 2013's "The Counselor鈥� have stumbled, audiences will no doubt be curious to see the new project by a legend in the sci-fi genre (his last sci-fi project, 2012鈥檚 鈥淧rometheus,鈥� performed fairly well at the box office). Fans of Weir鈥檚 book, which is still on bestseller lists, will no doubt want to check out the movie adaptation. And most other studios have gotten out of the way of the film鈥檚 opening weekend, with 鈥淢artian鈥� opening opposite such films as the Tom Hardy crime movie 鈥淟egend,鈥� which will only be in limited release.
