Entertainment
‘Project Hail Mary’s Directors Want To Adapt This Impressive Sci-Fi Book Next After Their 95% RT Hit
Project Hail Mary is an undeniable hit among both critics and the audience, so now, everyone is naturally curious about what else directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have lined up. Up next is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the latest installment in the trilogy Phil Lord and Christopher Miller helped shape as producers and creative leads, which began with 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse. After that, they may tackle yet another Andy Weir novel: Artemis. They have been connected to this project for a while, and, while the book may not have seen the same success as The Martian or Project Hail Mary itself, it still has the marks of a typical Weir novel; this time, however, instead of Mars or any other alien planet, the whole thing is set on the Moon.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Adaptation of ‘Artemis’ Was Announced in 2017
Recently speaking to THR, Lord and Miller mentioned having “a backlog of like seven or eight things” they want to do after Beyond the Spider-Verse, so they may end up doing something else entirely instead of Artemis, but that is also the first optimistic update we’ve had on the project in, well, years. With the director duo already attached, the Artemis adaptation was initially announced the same year the novel came out, in 2017.
It was, however, a completely different world — the project was being developed by Fox, for example, before its acquisition by Disney two years later. The Martian had already come out and was a hit, so the spotlight was on Weir and his science-y storytelling; unfortunately, news became scarce over the years. The latest update came in 2018, when current Fallout co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet took over screenwriting duties. Then, the industry changed completely, and it seems things were left at that point.
Lord and Miller have suggested that a script exists and have spoken positively about its direction, but it isn’t clear whether that remains Robertson-Dworet’s initial script or if it’s a new treatment. The true challenge was figuring out “how to execute one-sixth gravity,” the duo reveals, since the story is set entirely on the Moon, and low gravity plays an important role. If this were a purely technical issue, then it’s apparently resolved, according to them, suggesting that Artemis remains one of several projects in their backlog that could potentially move forward, depending on scheduling and studio priorities.
‘Artemis’ Tells a Coming-of-Age Heist Story Set Entirely on the Moon
Although it’s just as much of a hard sci-fi story as Weir’s other novels, Artemis follows a completely different approach towards hard sci-fi than the usual scientist who has to “science the s*** out of” everything to survive. Here, the story follows Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara, a more hero-type protagonist who is very different from Mark Watney (Matt Damon) and Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling). She is every bit as brave and resourceful as those two, but her novel is unique compared to theirs.
Jazz lives in Artemis, the first city on the Moon, in the late 2080s, and is still learning how to navigate adult life. We meet her as a small-time smuggler who is at odds with everyone in her life, from her father to her best friend, but she has to reevaluate her position when she is recruited by a Norwegian entrepreneur to sabotage his rival’s mining operation. Desperately needing the money, she accepts, but things quickly take a turn for the worse as she suddenly finds herself the target of a huge crime syndicate.
As always, there’s a lot of science in Artemis, and Weir does an incredible job at world-building. The lunar environment plays a role of its own in the story, affecting everything from the way people move at low gravity to Artemis’ own economy. Tourism is the city’s main asset, but with so many people living there to support the tourist influx, other skills have become invaluable, especially welding and security. Still, Artemis didn’t see the same success as Weir’s other novels, but it’s perfectly suited for a movie.
After ‘Project Hail Mary’s Success, Lord and Miller Are the Perfect People to Helm ‘Artemis’
As great as Artemis is, though, it’s still representative of Weir’s honing his skills as a sci-fi writer, looking to tell more character-driven stories and lay out more complex plots in terms of drama, without leaving science behind. It’s an honest attempt, but Jazz’s story could benefit from a more cinematic vision, especially one as clear as Lord and Miller’s. They excel in telling high-concept stories with no small dose of sharp and accessible comedy, of which Project Hail Mary is but one of numerous proofs.
Jazz is the kind of protagonist that Lord and Miller have tackled countless times: funny, flawed, and morally flexible, while remaining an essentially good individual. We’ve seen that in Spider-Verse‘s Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) in The Mitchells vs. the Machines, for example, both of which helped cement Lord and Miller as household names in Hollywood. This experience of crafting this kind of chaotic, yet sympathetic protagonist makes them the perfect people to bring Jazz to the big screen, too.
Finally, although Project Hail Mary has a contemplative side to it, Lord and Miller are also quite fond of fast-paced narratives. Artemis represents Weir’s first attempt to craft just that in a novel, but it does get sandwiched between science and Jazz’s own drama. Lord and Miller’s protagonists are often forced to grow while in the middle of the action, which would fit perfectly with Artemis‘ narrative. Hopefully, with the success of Project Hail Mary, this adaptation gets bumped up in the duo’s backlog.
Project Hail Mary is currently in theaters.
Project Hail Mary
- Release Date
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March 15, 2026
- Runtime
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157 minutes
- Director
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Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
- Writers
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Drew Goddard, Andy Weir
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