And the Martian is...

[Hyena]

Matt Damon. With Ridley Scott directing.

If you guessed correctly, please claim your no-prize.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/06/2...

[Trike]

...and I'm out.

[Tamahome]

[David Sven]

That one's my favourite

[Kev]

[Tamahome]

That was my other choice.

[Fresno Bob]

Damon is an obvious choice, but I was hoping for Sam Rockwell

[Stephanie]

Rockwell would have been cool.

[Dara]

If Rockwell was offered the role, I think he may have been thinking, "Well, I kind of did this already." The Martian has a very Moon vibe to me.

[Stephanie]

I agree it is somewhat like Moon, but this movie would have a lot more intensity, don't you think?

[Trike]

I also think using Rockwell would invite too much comparison to Moon. I like him as an actor, but it would freight the movie with unnecessary baggage.

[Ben]

Trike wrote: "I also think using Rockwell would invite too much comparison to Moon. I like him as an actor, but it would freight the movie with unnecessary baggage."

Agreed. I know he gets thrown out there as a suggestion for almost everything but I do think Nathan Fillion would have made a great Watney, especially the sarcasm-in-the-face-of-death part.

I'm sure Matt Damon will do a fine job, though. He's a good choice as well.

[Gordon]

I am up WAY too late because I could not stop listening to the Audible version of The Martian, and just finished a few minutes ago. I'm so glad they're making a movie; I kept thinking as I was listening that I'd love to watch it. Matt Damon doesn't match my mental picture of Watney, but I think he'll do an excellent job in the role.

[Stephanie]

Ben wrote: "Trike wrote: "Agreed. I know he gets thrown ..."

I LOVE Nathan Fillion but I imagined Watney having a shorter height. Was his height mentioned in the book? I can't remember.

[John (Nevets)]

I hate to say it, but I think Nathan Fillion (who I think is a great actor) might be a bit too old for this role now, but otherwise he would have been a good fit for the personality of the role.

Note, I just looked it up and Fillion is actually younger then Damon, who knew. Maybe it's just the role in Castle makes him seem older.

I almost always like voice-overs, don't know why. Yes, they can be done horribly. But most of the time I like the "getting in the head" of the protagonist thing. I guess it makes it feel more like a first person story then third person story to me. I know I'm in the minority, but that was one of the things I really liked in "Blade Runner", and was disappointed to hear that it was a studio mandate, and the creators hated it (and took a lot of it out of the directors cut).

[Ben]

Out of interest I just went and looked up age restrictions for the astronaut program on NASA's website. There's no age limit, and astronauts in the past have been between 26 and 46 years old. The average age is 34.

[Sabrina]

From reading the book reviews, a lot of people didn't get Watney's sarcasm, which is the secret ingredient to this story. It seems listeners of the audiobook had more success with the humor. I hope they keep it in the big screen version, but I'm not sure if "how do you like them apples" will be able to pull it off ...

[Dara]

Stephanie wrote: "I agree it is somewhat like Moon, but this movie would have a lot more intensity, don't you think?"

I do agree. Much more intense. Moon is more of a slow burn.

Trike wrote: "I also think using Rockwell would invite too much comparison to Moon. I like him as an actor, but it would freight the movie with unnecessary baggage."

I also agree with that.

[Stephanie]

Sabrina wrote: "From reading the book reviews, a lot of people didn't get Watney's sarcasm, which is the secret ingredient to this story. It seems listeners of the audiobook had more success with the humor. I ..."

lol - yes, the audiobook really helped with getting the sarcasm. Without it the movie will suck.

[Tamahome]

Great minds think alike.

http://boingboing.net/2014/07/09/who-...