Project Hail Mary opened to $80.6 million domestically its first weekend. It’s sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are already talking about the next one.
Andy Weir’s space-heist story gains momentum after Project Hail Mary’s box office win
Lord and Miller told THR that Artemis, Weir’s second novel from 2017, has been on their list for a long time. The problem was always the same one. “There is an Artemis script; it’s delightful. The thing that was holding that back for years was, how do we execute one-sixth gravity? The story takes place on the moon. We think we’ve figured it out,” Miller told THR. That’s not a confirmation, but it’s closer than anything they’ve said before.
Artemis follows Jazz Bashara, a smuggler living in Artemis, humanity’s first and only city on the moon. She gets pulled into a conspiracy involving the city’s richest residents and a plan that could destroy the whole settlement. It’s a heist story set on the moon with a female protagonist, which is a very different energy from Project Hail Mary.
Drew Goddard wrote both The Martian and Project Hail Mary adaptations. Whether he comes back for Artemis is not confirmed. The same core team of Lord, Miller, Ryan Gosling, Amy Pascal, and Andy Weir all have strong working relationships at this point, so the infrastructure is there.
The Hollywood Reporter also noted that a Project Hail Mary sequel is being discussed. Weir’s novel ends in a way that leaves the door open. Lord and Miller changed the ending slightly to make it more celebratory and easier to build from. Amazon MGM is not going to ignore an $80 million opening weekend for an original sci-fi film with no existing IP behind it.
Lord and Miller are tied up with the final Spider-Verse film for the next year and have other projects developing. Artemis is not happening immediately. But with Project Hail Mary performing the way it is, the conversation has shifted from maybe to when.
Weir has three novels. All three now have active Hollywood interest. That’s not a bad position for a guy who self-published The Martian online for free.
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