The Martian conveniently comes out only days after NASA’s big Mars revelation. But you won’t see Mark Watney sampling any Mars water in Ridley Scott’s latest space epic!
Yesterday, NASA revealed what scientists have suspected for years, but which has finally been proven: there is water on Mars. It’s murky and salty, but it’s water, which is very good news for anyone (read: all of us) hoping to discover extra-terrestrial life-forms.
It’s somewhat bad news for Ridley Scott, though, whose highly anticipated movie The Martian hits theaters later this week. Because while NASA actually did inform Scott of their discovery prior to making it public knowledge, it was too late to incorporate it into the film.
Speaking to The New York Times, Scott revealed that NASA first showed him the images proving the presence of water two months ago, but by that time, post-production on The Martian was already too far along.
While it would have been a cool insert, we’re not sure whether Scott would have been able to do much with it in the story even if he’d learned about it earlier, as the water’s properties and origin are still unknown. Besides, it obviously plays no role in Andy Weir’s original story.
From left to right: The Martian‘s Sebastian Stan, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Wiig, Ridley Scott, and Chiwetel Ejiofor at the New York premiere.
At the movie’s New York Film Festival premiere last Sunday, Scott re-iterated his commitment to the scientific field by calling The Martian, “A love letter to science.”
Added producer Simon Kinberg to Variety, “There’s something about the spirit of the book [by Andy Weir] and the particular voice that Drew [Goddard, screenwriter] captured that people wanted to be a part of.”
NASA has been closely involved with the publicity campaign for The Martian, both inviting actors to visit the set, and screening the film for astronauts in space.
The Martian stars Matt Damon as astronaut-botanist Mark Watney, who strands on Mars and proceeds to “science the sh**” out of everything to stay alive, while his in-space and earthbound colleagues work to bring him home. The movie premieres October 2, 2015.
Check out a trailer for The Martian below:
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