Ridley Scott in early talks to direct Matt Damon in 'The Martian'

Ridley Scott, who knows a little something about space thrillers, is in early talks with 20th Century Fox to direct Matt Damon in The Martian, a project that has drawn comparisons to Apollo 13 and Cast Away.

As The Hollywood Reporter initially reported, the Alien auteur would take the place of Cabin the Woods director Drew Goddard, who left to supervise Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Sinister Six. Goddard had already written a script, based on Andy Weir’s self-published book, which tells the story of an injured astronaut stranded on Mars who must improvise to survive while Earth’s scientists attempt a rescue operation to bring him home. Damon is also not yet officially attached, though he has a solid relationship with the film’s producer Simon Kinberg, who also produced Elysium.