12 Years a Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor has joined the cast of Ridley Scott’s science-fiction drama The Martian, reports Deadline. The film’s high-octane cast already includes Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Kate Mara and Sean Bean.
The Martian, based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, tells of how botanist Mark Watney (Damon) is left for dead on Mars by his crewmates when an expedition to the red planet goes wrong. Ejiofor is tipped to play the director of the space mission, Venkat Kapoor. The Cabin in the Woods’ Drew Goddard will write the screenplay.
In a review in April the Guardian’s Eric Brown described Weir’s book as an “accomplished first novel”. “[It] charts Watney’s attempt to survive Mars’s inimical conditions: limited air, insufficient supplies and scarce food and water,” he wrote. “Intercut with the first-person account are chapters set on Earth, detailing mission scientists’ attempts to affect his rescue, while Watney faces each problem as it arises with admirable savvy and technical know-how. The novel is research-heavy but, for the most part, succeeds in making Watney’s plight not only believable but suspenseful as he battles against the odds for survival.”
Scott’s film, which will inevitably be compared to the Oscar-winning space drama Gravity, is due for release in November 2015. Ejiofor has two further films – his first to be shot since the success of 12 Years a Slave – out next year. He is currently shooting a role as a scientist in post-apocalyptic young-adult literary adaptation Z For Zachariah and will also appear in the film Being Justin. In April, Variety reported Ejiofor is the top choice to play the Bond villain in Sam Mendes’s followup to the $1bn Skyfall.
