- Ridley Scott – director, producer
- Simon Kinberg – producer
- Michael Schaefer – producer
- Aditya Sood – producer
- Mark Huffam – producer
- Drew Goddard – screenwriter, executive producer
- Andy Weir – author (source material)
- Dariusz Wolski – cinematographer
- Arthur Max – production designer
- Janty Yates – costume designer
- Pietro Scalia – editor
- Harry Gregson-Williams – music composer
Development
The Martian was directed by Scott and based on a screenplay by Drew Goddard that was adapted from Weir's 2011 novel of the same name. 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013, and producer Simon Kinberg was attached to develop the novel into a film.[11] The following May, Goddard entered negotiations with the studio to write and direct The Martian.[12] Goddard wrote a screenplay for the film[13] and Matt Damon expressed interest in starring under Goddard's direction. Goddard then pursued an opportunity to direct Sinister Six, a comic book film about a team of supervillains.[14] Kinberg then brought the book to Scott's attention.[15] In May 2014, Scott entered negotiations with the studio to direct the film with Damon cast as the film's stranded astronaut.[16] Scott said he was attracted by the emphasis on science and thought a balance could be struck between entertainment and learning. Damon said he was attracted by the novel, the screenplay, and the opportunity to work with Scott.[17] Following Scott's commitment, the project picked up the pace and was quickly approved.[18] Goddard has since expressed that he felt Scott made a much better film than he could have directed, telling Creative Screenwriting, "When it's Scott, collaboration is easy because I just revere him. Every day I would just look around and think, 'Is that really Ridley Scott sitting there at the table? This is exciting!'"[19]
Filming
Wadi Rum in Jordan was used for external scenes on Mars in filming The Martian.Korda Studios 26 kilometres (16 mi) west of Budapest, Hungary, in the wine-making village of Etyek, was chosen for filming interior scenes of The Martian. It had one of the largest sound stages in the world.[20][21] Filming began in Hungary on November 24, 2014.[22] Around 20 sets were constructed for the film, which was filmed with 3D cameras.[21] Actual potatoes were grown in a sound stage next to the one used for filming. They were planted at different times so that different stages of growth could be shown in film scenes.[23] A team of six people built 15 suits for the film. External scenes depicting Mars were filmed in Wadi Rum, a UNESCO world heritage site in Jordan, over eight days in March 2015.[21][24][25] Wadi Rum had been used as a location for other films set on Mars, including Mission to Mars (2000), Red Planet (2000) and The Last Days on Mars (2013).[26] All told, filming lasted about 70 days.[21] A special Mars rover model was built for the filming; the movie cast and team presented the rover model to Jordan in return for the hospitality they had received. The rover is now exhibited in Jordan's Royal Automobile Museum.[27][28]
Weir avoided writing Watney as lonely and depressed in his novel. While Watney's humor is preserved in the film, Scott also depicted the character's isolation in the vast, dusty Martian landscape. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The scenes back on Earth provide a hectic, densely populated counterweight to the Martian aridity, which is magnificently represented by exteriors shot in the vicinity of Wadi Rum in Jordan."[29] Damon said he and Scott were inspired by the documentary film Touching the Void (2003), which featured trapped mountain climbers.[30] Scott also expected to film Watney as a Robinson Crusoe, a character in full isolation, but learned to film Watney differently since the character would be self-monitoring his behavior under the watch of various mission cameras.[23]
According to Scott, the first cut of the movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long.[31] An extended cut of the movie was released on home video.[32][33]
NASA involvement
Damon while making hand prints in concrete at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is accompanied by Jim Erickson (left) and Andrew J. Feustel (right).When the novel was first published, NASA invited Weir to tour the Johnson Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When Scott began preparing the film, Weir contacted NASA to collaborate on the film.[34] When Scott and producer Mark Huffam had their first production meeting, they called NASA and spoke with its film and television liaison Bert Ulrich.[35] NASA decided to help the filmmakers with depicting the science and technology in The Martian since it saw potential in promoting space exploration.[34]
NASA staff members that joined the effort included James L. Green, director of the Planetary Science Division, and Dave Lavery, program executive for Solar System Exploration.[35] Scott conversed with Green twice before filming started. During one month, NASA answered hundreds of questions on radioisotope systems, the look of potential "habs"—the residences for future Mars astronauts—and more. The questions were answered by Green or passed on to the right expert, and then came back to Scott's team to make their way into the production.[36][37] The space agency also provided hundreds of real images of Mars and control centers, down to what the computer screens look like.[38] Green arranged an eight-hour tour of the Johnson Space Center in Houston for production designer Arthur Max, who met with specialists and took hundreds of photos.[36][38] The production designer created a futuristic, heavily modernized Mission Control as a studio set; Ars Technica described its depiction as "the space agency that we all dream of" and the opposite of the real Johnson Center's appearance as "a run down college campus".[39]
Newsweek said NASA collaborated more with The Martian than most other space-themed films: "Staff from many NASA departments consulted on the film, from script development through principal photography, and are now helping with marketing timed to the theatrical release."[35] As part of the collaboration, the production's NASA liaison included the front page of the script for the film in the payload of the spacecraft Orion during its Exploration Flight Test 1 on December 5, 2014.[40]
The Los Angeles Times said NASA and the wider scientific community anticipated the film as a way to publicize a human mission to Mars. The New York Times reports that the film "serves as a nice plug for NASA, which has returned the favor by pushing the movie on its website. (On Monday [September 28, 2015], scientists announced that signs of liquid water could be seen in photographs taken on Mars by a camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,[41][42] timing that suggests NASA certainly has the whole cross-promotion thing down.)"[43] Jim Erickson, NASA project manager, said the film would show moviegoers "the risks and rewards" of humans traveling to Mars.[44]
In October 2015, NASA presented a new web tool to follow Watney's trek across Mars[45] and details of NASA's next steps, as well as a health hazards report[46][47] for a real-world human journey to Mars.[48][49][50]
In 2016, then-U.S. President Barack Obama named The Martian as among the best science fiction films he had ever seen.[51]
