Matt Damon is lost in space in the first trailer for The Martian: watch now

The first trailer for Ridley Scott’s next foray into space has been revealed. The Martian stars Matt Damon as astronaut (and botanist) Mark Watney, a member of the Ares crew on a reconnaissance mission to the red planet.

Things take a turn for the terrifying when Watney is cut off from his team in the middle of a dust storm, and finds himself stranded on Mars, with only his wits, wit, and ridiculous science knowledge to save him.

Adapted from the page-turner of a novel by Andy Weir, The Martian could be crudely summed up as ‘Gravity on Mars’, but the element of teamwork makes it quite a different proposition to Sandra Bullock’s solo space-flailing. Not only does Watney have the rest of his Ares team willing to lend a hand from afar, he has a vast team on Earth committing to tracking his progress.

Watch The Martian trailer below now:

While the visuals are everything you’ve come to expect from a Ridley Scott epic, what sets this apart is the little pinch of humour (present and correct from the book), notably when Watney pledges to ‘science the shit’ out of his survival mission.

Damon is supported by an incredible cast, with Jessica Chastain and Kate Mara among his fellow Ares crew members, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wigg and Sean Bean among those on the ground.

The Martian opens in the US on 25 November 2015, before opening in the UK two days later.

Check out the first poster below:

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.