The Second Trailer for The Martian is Somehow Better Than the First

Ridley Scott is due, apparently. After a dosage of entertaining but fatally flawed films, namely Prometheus in 2012 and Exodus: Gods and Kings in 2014, Scott is hopefully coming back strong with The Martian, an adaptation of Andy Weir’s book of the same name. And if Scott’s name isn’t enough to get you interested, throw in Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean and, of all people, Kristen Wiig. Considering the Oscar-friendly timing of the release and the boisterous marketing push The Martian is privileged to receive, 20th Century Fox clearly thinks this one’s a winner. Here’s the second trailer:

You’ll notice a subtle shift in tone from the introductory trailer, with a little less emphasis on Damon himself and a little more on the enormous supporting cast. That’s appropriate. Chastain brings her fiction space chops to the proceedings while Daniels, who’s graduated into the annals of wise movie patriarchs thanks to Aaron Sorkin’s lionizing of the man in The Newsroom, gets to look on the action with disgruntled pessimism.

There is a universe where I also mention Kate Mara’s boon to the marketing for The Martian, but this isn’t it. Sorry, Kate Mara.

Perhaps the most peculiar thing about The Martian is just how quickly the book transitioned into a movie. Andy Weir self-published his novel back in 2011, only to have it republished under the Crown Publishing (itself apart of the behemoth Random House) umbrella in 2014. Now, one year later, it’s a movie backed by all the money-making machinations of Hollywood. This fast-track from little-known to Damonization is a pristine example of just how fast technology makes the entertainment industry move. It lets producers capitalize, literally, on the trending and the viral with alarming expediency.

Now, if only we can get a meta take on Damon’s space adventuring will Hollywood truly steal my heart.

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