20 facts you might not know about The Martian
Space films often feature things going awry. It usually involves a monster or an alien, and the next thing you know, John Hurt’s chest has seen better days. The Martian is a movie about a problem in space but a very different kind of movie, which is funny because it was directed by the man responsible for an alien bursting through Hurt’s body. These 20 facts about The Martian may or may not help if you get stranded on the “red planet.”
The movie is based on a hit book
Andy Weir first wrote The Martian as a serial available for free online. Once he finished, some readers asked if he could turn it into an e-book so they could read it that way. He put it on Amazon for 99 cents, and it took off from there. Eventually, he sold the rights to a publisher for a print copy, and that book debuted at No. 12 on The New York Times bestsellers list. Quickly, it was optioned to be adapted for a film.
The writer almost directed as well
Drew Goddard made his name in films with Cloverfield and followed that up by writing and directing The Cabin in the Woods. He was actually at first attached to both writing and directing The Martian, but while his screenplay was used for the movie, he did not end up directing it.
The director knew a thing or two about space movies
When Goddard was considering another project, the producers turned to Ridley Scott to see if he would be interested. Scott agreed, liking how the film blended hard science and entertainment. This was an oeuvre that Scott had worked in before. His breakout movie was the sci-fi horror sensation Alien, and he also directed Prometheus before making The Martian. By the way, Goddard was cool about losing the gig, saying Scott did a better job than he would have.
Matt Damon was attached from the beginning
For the role of Mark Watney, the humble botanist astronaut that is the film's main character, production honed in on Damon pretty quickly. He was attached from the beginning, which probably helped get the film’s momentum going. Damon was on board when Goddard was still attached to direct.
A few Marvel stars are in the cast
The Martian has an all-star cast, including some superhero and superhero-adjacent folks. Michael Pena from the Ant-Man films, The Winter Soldier himself Sebastian Stan, and Kate Mara, who was in that Fantastic Four fiasco, all played astronauts.
One bit of casting proved controversial
Mackenzie Davis is a fine actress, but there was some hubbub about her being cast in the role of Mindy Park. As is indicative by the name, Park is a Korean-American in the novel. Davis is white, and some complained about a character that was initially Korean being replaced by a white character.
Two of the stars had different approaches
To prepare for her role as one of the astronauts, Jessica Chastain visited scientists and astronauts at the Jet Propulsion Lab and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Damon had a different approach. Instead of meeting with real astronauts, he went over the film line-by-line with Scott to plan out the movie.
'The Martian' went to a usual spot to shoot Mars
Have you seen Mission to Mars, Red Planet, or The Last Days on Mars? In that case, you were well familiar with the location where The Martian shot its Mars scenes. Apparently, Wadi Rum in Jordan is the perfect replication of Mars, aka the Red Planet, for filming purposes.
The movie built its own Mars rover
Watney gets around on Mars with a rover, and for the film, the production constructed their representation of a rover vehicle. After they were done with filming, they gifted the rover to the country of Jordan. It’s not in the country’s Royal Automobile Museum.
One actor saw their role become a silent one
Naomi Scott plays Ryoko, a member of the JPL team. By 2015, she already had a couple of notable roles, so it wasn’t like she was an unknown actress. However, her scenes were cut from the film. As a result, she’s only in the movie in a silent role.
The production collaborated with NASA
The Martian involved NASA in the story quite a bit. To try and make things as realistic as possible, the production got NASA involved in filmmaking as much as possible. People from NASA answered hundreds of questions and were more involved in the production of The Martian than most films. They hoped the movie could serve as a promotion of space exploration.
The film is heavy on the disco
While the movie has a score, much of the soundtrack is made of the music Mark has available to him on Earth. That music just so happens to be disco. Mark hates disco at first (which is a well-worn comedic trope at this point) but comes to like it a bit better. The film is packed with classic disco hits, including Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
A virtual reality experience was used to promote the film
Jointly released with the film was “The Martian VR Experience,” a virtual reality adventure where you got to play as Mark Watney and recreate scenes from the movie. It was then released for home VR systems and would win a couple of awards.
The film was a box office smash
The Martian cost $108 million to make, a much larger budget than Scott had for Alien. Fortunately, it proved a huge success. The movie made $228.4 million in the United States and Canada alone and $630.2 million worldwide. This made it the 10th-highest-grossing movie of the year.
It also got a handful of Oscar nominations
The Martian was nominated for seven Academy Awards. This includes nominations for Best Actor, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Goddard. However, it did not win any of the awards it was up for.
'The Martian' also won some dubious Golden Globes
People complain about the Globes for various reasons, but there were some laughs of derision around the 2015 Golden Globe Awards. The Martian won two Golden Globes. Damon won for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and the movie won for Best Musical or Comedy. This meant that The Martian was classified as a comedy for the Golden Globes, a dubious distinction, to be sure.
The movie had one notable fan
The Martian ended up on a lot of year-end top 10 lists, but there was one person whose appreciation for the film probably stuck out above the rest. Barack Obama, then still the President of the United States, called The Martian one of the best sci-fi films of all time.
One character got some botany love
A species of tomato from Australia was given the name Solanum watneyi. It was named in honor of Mark Watney, the main character of The Martian. Hey, he was a botanist, so why not give him the honor of having a plant named after him? You know, even if he isn’t real.
Actual potatoes were grown for the movie
Watney grows potatoes on Mars to survive once his rations begin to run out. There was actual potato growing during the production of the movie. No, they weren’t grown on set, but in the sound stage next to the one they were using. That way, they could have different potatoes at different stages of growth.
Scott got to give himself a shout out
Beth warns the character of Beck before they head out of the Hermes by saying, “In space…” While she doesn’t finish the quote, the full line is, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” This is the iconic tagline for Alien, which is a Scott film. However, Scott didn’t wedge that into his movie. In Weir’s novel, Watney writes that quote into his log after leaving Mars.
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