It’s a busy time for “The LEGO Movie” and “21 Jump Street” filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The pair have two projects hitting screens. In cinemas next week comes the highly anticipated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” – the sequel to 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” – which they co-wrote and produced and were heavily involved in.
On TV, their fan-favorite adult animated series “Clone High” finally returned to screens this week with a revival series launching with the Max platform.
With those works now out, it begs the question – what’s next for them? Speaking with Collider, Lord says they are “trying not to commit ourselves to anything” and are “very excited about a bunch of our future projects”.
Lord did add: “We’re particularly excited about Project Hail Mary” but will wait until the writer’s strike works out before they get moving on that one. At last report, it was slated to begin filming in early 2024 in the United Kingdom.
That will be a film adaptation of the 2021 sci-fi novel by “The Martian” author Andy Weir. Asked directly if it would be their next big screen adaptation, Miller says: “Yeah, obviously there’s a lot to figure out, but it’s looking that way.”
The novel follows a junior high school teacher named Ryland Grace who wakes up from a coma with amnesia. Unsure of his surroundings, he slowly begins to piece his past together – working out he was an astronaut and sent to a solar system twelve light-years from our own to prevent the end of humanity.
Drew Goddard was hired several years ago to help with the script, whilst Ryan Gosling was also attached at the same time. No word if any of that is still the case.
Meanwhile, the pair confirms to the outlet that the live-action Spider-Verse spin-off series following Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir character is still a go, with Miller adding its “coming along nicely” though they have paused development due to the strike.
The comments come as social media reaction from press screenings for the darker and even more ambitious Spider-Verse sequel has been seemingly unanimous raves.
