From a Doylist/marketing perspective, though, I honestly think most people gave the novel a chance because Andy Weir made a name for himself with The Martian. In Sci-Fi publishing, he’s the brand, so the publishers can indulge a surprise plot point. For a mainstream movie, “from the author of that one Mars movie that didn’t suck and did quite well ten years ago…” doesn’t really move the needle, but "Ryan Gosling is a…

Well, that just might.