Ryan Gosling to produce and star in Project Hail Mary

Ryan Gosling is preparing to head into space once more to tackle the big-screen adaptation of upcoming astronaut novel Project Hail Mary.

The book, written by Andy Weir, won't be published until next spring, but studio bosses at MGM are currently in negotiations to seal the film rights to the project, which Gosling will both star in and produce, according to editors at Deadline.

Project Hail Mary follows the tale of a solitary astronaut on a space ship who is assigned a mission to save Earth.

Gosling, 39, will produce Project Hail Mary alongside Ken Kao, who previously served as executive producer on Best Picture nominee The Favourite.

Weir's first novel, which was self-published in 2011, was The Martian, which told the tale of an American astronaut stranded alone on Mars in the year 2035. It was adapted into a critically-acclaimed blockbuster by Ridley Scott in 2015 and starred Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Jeff Daniels. The Martian went on to land seven Academy Award nominations and grossed more than $630 million (£510 million) worldwide.

Two-time Oscar nominee Gosling last appeared on the big screen in 2018, portraying Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle's biographical drama First Man. The movie, which also starred Claire Foy, Jason Clarke and Kyle Chandler, documented the years leading up to the astronaut's Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969 with Buzz Aldrin.

Weir's second novel, Artemis, was published in 2017, and Fox News Regency bought the rights, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller attached to direct. The story follows a woman named Jazz, who feels constrained by her small town of Artemis, which is a city located on the moon.