Interview (Written): Drew Goddard (“The Martian”)

An Indiewire interview with screenwriter Drew Goddard who adapted a book written by Andy Weir.

How into the science of “The Martian” did you get?

It’s in the book. I mean, Weir really, really went deep. I got into it in the sense that I love reading the book [laughs] and I do love science. I, by no means, consider myself an expert, but I love talking to experts. So a lot of it is just A) trusting Andy, B) talking to Andy, and then talking to scientists, making sure it all makes sense.

Andy Weir really did his research when it comes to that element of the story.

For sure. And he did it over the course of three years, chapter by chapter, so there was a crowdsourcing element to it. He would write something and, if it was wrong, he would have all these people who would help him, which is great. It’s a good story, Andy’s story.

Speaking of the different cuts of the film, it’s been reported that there were three different cuts of the film that were shown to audiences, is that true?

Yeah, I mean I don’t think we had something called “the funny cut” or “the serious cut,” it was always just the way all movies are. You try things, you step back, you say, “Oh, that didn’t work” or “that worked in a way we didn’t even think of that’s exciting, let’s leave that part in.” It’s just what you do, it certainly wasn’t different from any other movie I’ve worked on in that regard. But finding that balance between comedy and drama was tricky, and so you sort of play with it.

For the rest of the interview, go here.