Amazon bringing one of the most ambitious sci-fi adaptations to our screens

Amazon has announced that it is making a big screen adaptation of another science fiction novel by the author of The Martian, Andy Weir.

Project Hail Mary will star Ryan Gosling (Barbie, Blade Runner 2049), who is also producing the movie. It is being directed by the duo behind the superb Spider-Man Spider-Verse films, plus the two Lego Movies, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Set in the near future, the novel has similar themes to Weir's other famous book, in that it mostly centres on an astronaut seemingly stranded far from Earth. However, this time, Ryland Grace also suffers from amnesia so has no recollection of how he arrived on a remote space station or why.

More intriguingly, he has to piece it all together quickly as the fate of mankind is at stake.

The novel was released in 2021 and is very highly regarded – fans include the likes of Game of Thrones' author George R. R. Martin.

Deadline reports that it will be filmed in IMAX format and is destined for theatres first, with a planned release date of 20 March 2026. But, as it is an Amazon MGM production (much like the recent Fallout TV series), it'll likely then make its way onto the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.

More sci-fi spectaculars to come

Weir's book isn't the only sci-fi project Amazon has in the pipeline. Last year, it revealed plans to create a whole TV and movie franchise around the hugely successful Warhammer 40,000 tabletop games by Games Workshop.

Driven by self-confessed fan Henry Cavill (The Witcher, Man of Steel) numerous projects based on the games are in the early stages of development. It's not yet clear whether a movie or show for Prime Video will be first to appear.

We're not likely to find out much more anytime soon, but the fact the project exists is proof positive that Amazon is planning for more big exclusives for its streaming service in the coming years.