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Details on The Martian author Andy Weir’s new project have been unveiled by Del Rey.

Publishing in May 2021, Project Hail Mary tells the story of a lone astronaut who awakens to find himself on a ship deep in space, his crewmates dead and his memories missing. All he knows is that he alone must now complete a desperate, last-chance mission to save the Earth from disaster.

Said Weir, ‘I’m always proud and excited when I finish a book, but I really cannot wait to get this one in people’s hands in May. It’s hitting a lot of those notes that people responded to with The Martian—but I also went for it in a big way with the science and the speculative aspects, and it took the story in some crazy and exciting new places’  

Sam Bradbury, Senior Editor at Del Rey said: ‘We can’t wait for the world to fall in love with Project Hail Mary. Andy has written one of the boldest, most exciting novels ever set in space, with a hilarious and ingenious lead character that you wish you were isolated in space with. As with The Martian, the novel is filled with human drama, razor-sharp humour and fascinating real-life science. But Andy cranks everything up to 11 here. It’s his most ambitious and inventive novel to date with an audacious plot to save Earth that speaks to our uncertain times. It’s no wonder MGM and Ryan Gosling are fast-tracking this into a movie. This book will appeal to a huge audience beyond science fiction; readers have such a treat in store.’

Film rights to the novel have sold to MGM with Ryan Gosling attached to star and filmmakers Phil Lord & Chris Miller set to direct (The Lego Movie; Spider-man Into the Spider-verse). Joining them as producers are Pascal Pictures’ Amy Pascal, Arcadia’s Ken Kao, and Lord Miller’s Aditya Sood, who was also a producer on Ridley Scott’s blockbuster adaptation of The Martian which starred Matt Damon.