MGM in Talks to Acquire Andy Weir’s Hail Mary; Ryan Gosling to Star 

MGM in Talks to Acquire Andy Weir’s Hail Mary; Ryan Gosling to Star

According to Deadline, MGM is in exclusive negotiations to acquire author Andy Weir’s (The Martian) new novel The Hail Mary in a seven-figure deal. Two-time Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (La La Land, Half Nelson, Blade Runner 2049) is set to star in and produce the sci-fi feature. Ken Kao will also produce.

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The Hail Mary novel is described as a solitary tale of an astronaut on a space ship who is tasked with saving the planet. Gosling is attached to play the astronaut in the film.

The book is set to be published next spring by Random House. CAA is brokering the book deal with David Fugate of Launch Books.

The movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s Artemis is being directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller, in addition to the filmmaking duo’s recent announcement that they are developing an original idea from Weir on top of the graphic novel Cheshire Crossing.

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Gosling’s recent credits include First Man, Blade Runner 2049, Song to Song, La La Land, The Nice Guys, The Big Short, Only God Forgives, Gangster Squad, and The Place Beyond the Pines.

(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images)