Ridley Scott Reveals First Look At The Martian

Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi blockbuster ‘The Martian’ sees Matt Damon return to outer space… and much like his role in ‘Interstellar’, he’s fighting for survival on a desolate planet.

It’s no secret that Matt Damon’s role in ‘The Martian’ is eerily similar to his 2013 stint in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’. Stranded on the Martian planet surface, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is left fighting for his life after his fellow crew mistakenly leave him behind.

And these first look images give us a glimpse of what we can expect.

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During an interview with People, the iconic director revealed that while ‘The Martian’ heads off into space, we shouldn’t expect to see any xenomorphs…

“Just geology,” said the ‘Alien’ director about what to expect in his latest blockbuster. “The last thing Mark’s thinking about is life on Mars. He’s thinking about how to save his life on Mars.”

Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ – based on a novel by Andy Weir – trades in acid-dripping aliens for a rather gripping survival thriller.

After “the instruments on his suit” convince Damon’s crew that he’s already dead, they decide to head of back to Earth… but soon discover “two and a half months later that he’s alive.”

But not for very long.

“Frankly he’s got 28 days to live – and that’s if everything goes well for him,” said director Ridley Scott. “Instead of him collapsing into terror – He knuckles down and actually starts to work out [how long he can survive].”

“Any survival story is fascinating,” Scott added while talking to Empire Magazine. “I think of it as a 21st century Robinson Crusoe.”

Of course, there are plenty of parallels between ‘The Martian’ and Matt Damon’s earlier role in ‘Interstellar’. But while Nolan’s film attempted to tackle bigger, existential questions, this is more of a survival thriller in space – in the same vein as ‘Apollo 13’ and more recently, the hit sci-fi film ‘Gravity’.

But will Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ bring anything new to the table?

Based on the award-winning novel, I can’t help thinking that ‘The Martian’ takes a far more grounded and realistic approach to the notion of being marooned in space. And with the film exploring the nature of colonising Mars, it’s the kind of subject that’s not too far from our own future.

Will it top ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Gravity’? For now, we’ll have to wait and see… but I have a very good feeling about this one.

Matt Damon joins Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Sebastian Stan and Donald Glover amongst others.

‘The Martian’ heads to cinemas on 27 November 2015.

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Picture Credit: 20th Century Fox, People, Entertainment Weekly