The Martian (film)
The Martian is a 2015 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Drew Goddard adapted the screenplay from the 2011 novel of the same name by Andy Weir. It also stars Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, and Benedict Wong.
The Martian
- Simon Kinberg
- Ridley Scott
- Michael Schaefer
- Mark Huffam
- September 11, 2015 (TIFF)
- September 30, 2015 (United Kingdom)
- October 2, 2015 (United States)
142 minutes[1]
English
$108 million[3]
$630.6 million[4]
The film depicts an astronaut's struggle to survive on Mars after being left behind and NASA's efforts to return him to Earth.
The Martian was produced through 20th Century Fox in the United Kingdom and the United States. Producer Simon Kinberg began developing the film after Fox optioned the novel in March 2013. Goddard, who adapted the novel into a screenplay, was initially attached to direct, but production was only approved after Scott replaced Goddard as director and Damon was cast as the main character. Filming began in November 2014 and lasted about 70 days. Twenty sets were built on one of the largest sound stages in the world in Budapest, Hungary. Wadi Rum in Jordan was also used for exterior filming.
The film premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015. It was released in the UK on September 30, 2015, and in the US on October 2, 2015, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX.[5] It received positive reviews with praise for its direction, visual effects, musical score, screenplay, scientific accuracy, and likability, largely due to Damon's performance and grossed over $630 million worldwide, becoming Scott's highest-grossing film to date and the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2015. It was nominated for seven awards at the 88th Academy Awards, and received numerous other accolades.
Harry Gregson-Williams composed the score for The Martian. It is the fourth collaboration between Gregson-Williams and Scott. Gregson-Williams previously worked on music for Scott's films Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Prometheus (2012) and Exodus: Gods and Kings, composing the main film score for the first and last films, and doing additional music for the other two.[52]
A running gag in the film is commander Melissa Lewis' love for 1970s songs (especially of the disco genre, which apparently Watney hates), the only music available to Watney on Mars which often appears as diegetic music. The soundtrack includes:[53]
The exit music, which includes "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "I Will Survive," is a commentary on Watney's situation on Mars.[54]
Marketing[edit]
20th Century Fox launched a viral marketing campaign for The Martian.[55] On June 7, 2015, NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino shared an in-universe video diary depicting Damon's character and the other crew members.[56][57] Ars Technica compared the video diary to similar viral videos marketed for Scott's 2012 film Prometheus in having a similar "style of slickly produced fictional promotional material". The studio then released an official trailer on June 8.[58] Forbes said, "20th Century Fox has cut together a pretty perfect trailer in that it absolutely makes the sale. It establishes the stakes, offers a sympathetic lead character, shows off an all-star cast, tosses out a potential catchphrase, and ends on a grimly humorous tagline."[59] In response to the trailer, Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, released a spoof trailer, The Mastronaut: Emission to Mars, that edited the original to parody the film.[60]
At the start of August, Fox released another video, depicting interviews with each of the main crew members.[61] Mid-month, the studio released another film trailer, and NASA hosted a "Martian Day" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to both promote The Martian and highlight the space program's ongoing efforts to carry out a human mission to Mars.[37] At the end of August, Fox released another video, presenting it as a special episode of the TV series StarTalk in which astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the hazards of traveling to Mars.[62] In September, Scott's RSA Films released a teaser for The Martian that depicted Damon wearing Under Armour sports clothing and being active in his off-world tasks.[63] The teaser originated from a collaboration between RSA Films and the marketing shop 3AM (under theatrical advertising agency Wild Card), initiated in 2014, to produce advertising content for The Martian. RSA contacted the advertising agency Droga5, under whom Under Armour is a client.[64] Droga5 ultimately collaborated with WME and 3AM to produce the teaser.[63]
Forbes's Peter Himler said American astronauts had traditionally been used by public relations to promote commercial products, starting with the drink Tang. Himler said it "came as no surprise" that NASA astronauts in the International Space Station were reported by The Guardian and CBS News as having read Weir's novel and hoping to see the film on board the ISS.[65] NASA participated in the marketing of the film despite its lack of involvement with previous films. Though it turned down a request for Interstellar to be screened on the ISS,[38] The Martian was screened on board[66] 402 km (250 miles) above the Earth's surface on September 19, 2015, and also at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on October 1, 2015.[38]
In November 2015, 20th Century Fox announced The Martian VR Experience, a "virtual reality adventure" where viewers play as Mark Watney and reenact scenes from the film.[67] The project was executive produced by Scott alongside Joel Newton and directed by Robert Stromberg. It was released for HTC Vive and PlayStation VR on November 15, 2016, and is also available for the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.[68] The project won 2 major awards; a Silver Lion at the Cannes Film Festival and an AICP Award.
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91%, with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on 383 reviews. The website's critics consensus read, "Smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny, The Martian offers a faithful adaptation of the bestselling book that brings out the best in leading man Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott."[115] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100 based on 46 critics.[116] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 and a 66% "definite recommend". Audience demographics were 54% men and a total of 59% over 35.[117]
The Martian received praise for its direction, visual effects, musical score, screenplay, scientific accuracy, and likability, largely due to Damon's performance.[118] Variety reported, "Critics are calling the film a funny, thrilling ride, and a return to form for [Ridley] Scott after The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings fell flat."[119] In The Guardian, aerospace engineer Dr Robert Zubrin commented: