Words Lee Curtis

They launched the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Jump Street, LEGO, and Spider-Verse franchises. Now, Lord and Miller are taking us out of this world with an adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s bestseller.

The sun is dying. Humanity’s – no, the entire galaxy’s – days are numbered. Somehow, a science teacher has become our only hope.

The Martian sent Matt Damon to Mars, surviving alone while finding a way home. Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace wakes up from hypersleep to find himself even further from  home, alone, and with more than just a headache.

Aboard the Hail Mary, lightyears away, he must use all his knowledge to figure out what’s stopping another star from dimming like ours.

Ryland might seem highly unqualified, but this isn’t Gosling’s first flight to the stars – he’s got astro pedigree from Blade Runner 2049 and First Man, and he’s preparing for lift-off in Star Wars: Starfighter after completing this solo mission.

Only, Ryland isn’t alone. He’s made contact with an extraterrestrial companion: a rock-like alien he nicknames “Rocky.” After solving their small problem of how to communicate, he learns Rocky’s been sent on exactly the same mission – and together, they set out to solve their biggest problem of all.

What follows is a story of the unlikeliest of friendships – a sci-fi epic with emotional gravity and playful humour in its orbit.

Co-Pilots

After creative differences grounded their Solo: A Star Was Story, Lord and Miller are finally back in the director’s chair for their first film since 2014 – a comeback that’s long been written in the stars. The duo burst onto the scene with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, where a scientist – much more qualified than Ryland – invents a machine to save his town from a flavourless, sardine-filled fate. 21 and 22 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie followed before they stepped away from directing, but not from storytelling. As producers and creative forces, they’ve helped steer sequels, spin-offs, and some recent favourites, including Storks, Smallfoot, Cocaine Bear, and Spider-Man Into and Across The Spider-Verse. In short, everything they touch is awesome.