It appears as though Ridley Scott has settled on his next project. Back in April, we learned that Scott had entered talks to direct the sci-fi film The Martian with Matt Damon set to star. Speaking on Jeff Goldsmith’s podcast recently (via The Playlist), producer Simon Kinberg confirmed that The Martian will indeed be Scott’s next project, and in fact the film is gearing up to start production this fall. Drew Goddard was initially attached to direct the Gravity-esque tale of an astronaut who is stranded on Mars and must make his way home, but was forced to drop out of the director’s chair due to his Sinister Six commitments. However, Goddard completed what Kinberg describes as an “incredible script”, and it looks like Scott will next be heading to the Red Planet to bring the project to fruition.

Hit the jump for more, including where this leaves Prometheus 2.

The big question this news brings up is, what about Prometheus 2? 20th Century Fox announced a March 4, 2016 release date for an untitled Ridley Scott project recently, and that was subsequently reported as being Prometheus 2, though other outlets claimed the date for the follow-up was not yet set. If Scott is shooting The Martian this fall, that doesn’t leave him enough time to complete post-production on that film, then prep, shoot, and edit Prometheus 2 in time for the March 2016 release date. Either that release date was never actually Prometheus 2, or, someone else will be directing the sci-fi follow-up while Scott simply produces.

The Prometheus 2 release date was never actually confirmed by Fox, so it’s possible that Scott plans on getting around to the follow-up after The Martian, but I imagine the studio isn’t keen to wait another year or two for the sci-fi sequel when Scott could remain involved in a producorial capacity. They could bring in an up-and-coming director to steer the further adventures of Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender‘s diesmbodied head, possibly continuing a new franchise.

As for The Martian, the premise is certainly intriguing and refreshingly toned-down for a studio tentpole. The big hurdle will be avoiding Gravity comparisons, but I have great faith in writer Drew Goddard and Damon’s an impeccable actor. With Scott now firmed up to direct this next, I’m interested to see what he brings to the sci-fi project.

Read the synopsis for author Andy Weir’s ebook below.