Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Direct Ryan Gosling in Sci-Fi Thriller From Spider-Man Producer

Phil Lord and Chris Miller will direct star Ryan Gosling in Hail Mary, a sci-fi thriller reuniting them with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse producer Amy Pascal. The directors of 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie have set the project at MGM, who purchased the rights to The Martian author Andy Weir’s upcoming novel for $3 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who broke the news. After starring as Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land followup First Man, Gosling will play a lone astronaut who, from his spaceship, is tasked with saving the planet.

Aditya Sood (The Martian, Deadpool) will produce alongside Pascal, producer on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Venom for Sony as well as the animated Spider-Verse, co-written by Lord and produced by the filmmaking duo. The Marvel Comics-inspired film, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

In addition to their next directorial effort Hail Mary, Lord and Miller are acting as shepherds on a universe of Spider-Man television series for Sony. The directors haven’t teamed on a film since 2014, when they released animated hit The LEGO Movie and the R-rated 22 Jump Street, sequel to their 2012 comedy that partnered Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as a pair of fresh-faced undercover cops.

Lord and Miller were tapped to direct young Han Solo prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story for Disney-owned Lucasfilm but, in the summer of 2017, were fired from the project over creative differences. They were replaced by veteran filmmaker Ron Howard.

In 2017, Lord and Miller attached themselves to another Weir sci-fi novel, Artemis, before attaching themselves as directors to another animated movie, Last Human, set at Sony Pictures.