Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Drew Goddard
Produced by: Mark Huffam, Simon Kinberg, Michael Schaefer, Ridley Scott
Genre: Sci-Fi
Running time: 2h 24min
Kristen Wiig as: Annie Montrose
Other cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney 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.
Production Notes
At NASA, rattled administrators and engineers are still trying to comprehend that they sent six astronauts to Mars, and only five are returning. The best minds at NASA and its California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory are now scrambling to find a way to get Watney home. It is the media event of the century. NASA and JPL executives and scientists find themselves in the eye of the storm – and the whole world is watching. Think your job is a pressure cooker? Step into the shoes of Annie Montrose (Kristen Wiig), NASA’s media relations director. Along with the challenge of extracting meaningful information from preoccupied NASA personnel, she is charged with facing down a gallery of frenzied press, starved for any bit of information to sink their teeth into.
“Annie must manage how a lot of important people want to address the situation, and has to make the decisions on exactly how and what to tell the public,” Wiig states. “She has to walk a fine line between keeping the world informed and protecting the reputation of NASA.”
