Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir Thinks The Movie Improved On His Book In One Key Way

This article contains spoilers for "Project Hail Mary."

It's 2015, and a new adaptation of an Andy Weir sci-fi novel has released to widespread acclaim. It's 2026, and a new adaptation of an Andy Weir sci-fi novel has released to widespread acclaim. If you're suddenly getting a strong sense of déjà vu, you're far from alone. At this point, both "The Martian" and the recent debut of the box office smash hit "Project Hail Mary" have confirmed Weir as one of our most in-demand authors around. Much of that has to do with his intuitive grasp on crowd-pleasing, blockbuster-friendly tendencies. But, on the other hand, credit has to go to screenwriter Drew Goddard for knowing exactly what to preserve from the source material and what to change.

Weir himself is singing the praises of the "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" scribe, particularly when it comes to one aspect of his latter book that he admits Goddard handles more effectively than he did. While speaking to Polygon in a recent interview, Weir revealed a somewhat "contrived" subplot that he never felt fully satisfied with including in the story. As he explained:

"In the book, there's a gene that makes you very resistant to long-term comas, and [scientists] could test for it, and only people who had that gene were candidates to be on the ship."

This partially explains why Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling in the film) makes for a natural choice as a backup astronaut for the one-way mission to Tau Ceti, just in case things go haywire. Not just anyone could subject themselves to the rigors of space travel to our far-flung interstellar neighbor, nor have the wealth of knowledge required to actually find a solution to the "astrophage" organisms devouring our sun. The movie, however, approaches this very differently.

Not every successful author is fortunate enough to experience an adaptation of their work that truly lives up to their high standards, let alone exceeds them — look no further than George R.R. Martin and his continuing gripes with "House of the Dragon." Thankfully, the circumstances couldn't be more different for Andy Weir when it comes to "Project Hail Mary." In fact, Weir appears to be his own toughest critic. While speaking with Polygon, the author opened up about how directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller worked together with writer Drew Goddard to simplify and streamline how Ryan Gosling's Ryland Grace ends up so far from home. According to Weir:

"Between Drew and the directors, they came up with a way to have Ryland be on the ship without having that coma gene. Which is why he ended up being the last-minute replacement. Drew found a way to have that all happen, to have the [same] immediacy without having to resort to this little made-up side science that I had to come up with for the book. It always felt a little contrived to me in the book, and I'm glad that they found a way to do it without that in the movie."

While this fictionalized plot device never bothered me while reading the book, I can't say that I found myself missing its absence in the film. Sometimes, simpler really is better. This doesn't make or break "Project Hail Mary" either way, to be sure, but it's definitely one of those quiet, under-the-radar improvements that only adds to the viewing experience in the long run. Clearly, Weir agrees.

"Project Hail Mary" is now playing in theaters.