Two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain is set to join Matt Damon in Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi The Martian, while Bridesmaids‘ Kristen Wiig is also in talks.
Variety reports that Chastain, the star of Zero Dark Thirty and Lawless is in “early talks” to take the female lead in the film, which is reported as coming together very quickly now that Scott has locked it in as his next film, shunting Prometheus 2 further down the line.
Deadline reports that Wiig is also circling the project but notes that Chastain seems “likelier” although its unclear if they’re in negotiations for the same part. Wiig has been moving into some more dramatic roles and this would certainly be a step in that direction, and we’d be very interested to see her in a serious bit of sci-fi like this. And she’s brilliant. As is Chastain, so this is all good news.
The film is based on the ebook by Andy Weir and tells the story of “an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and must figure out how to stay alive long enough to get back home.”
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