Stranded on an alien planet with only himself and a series of GoPros for company, Matt Damon’s lone botanist Mark Watney is the likeable beating heart at the centre of Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi, The Martian, and for those who were perhaps apprehensive over the fact that the actor would struggle to own the scene while flying solo need only look to today’s new clip.
Adopting video logs as a means of circumventing the insular, first-person narration of Andy Weir’s eponymous novel, the footage champions Watney’s never-say-die attitude, as he sets about creating enough food for him to survive the arduous three-year wait before the Ares-3 crew can return to the red planet and complete their rescue mission.
Long before that happens, though, Damon’s botanist is a member of an elite squad of astronauts who make the 140 million mile trek from Earth to Mars to fulfil NASA’s objective. When a devastating storm comes barreling down off the martian mountains, the mission is unceremoniously upended as Ares-3 pack up and leave in a hurry, inadvertenly marooning Mark Watney in the process.
Scott has assembled quite the star-studded cast for his latest sci-fi, with Damon being joined by Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastian, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Ant-Man‘s Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Donald Glover.
Ridley Scott’s The Martian opens nationwide on October 2. For more on the director’s return to the genre, you can check out our own thoughts coming out of TIFF 2015.
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.
