Project Hail Mary screenwriter Drew Goddard has revealed one storyline from Andy Weir’s novel that he wished could have made it into the film: a plan to nuke Antarctica as part of an effort to help humanity survive longer.
In an interview with Gold Derby, Goddard said the idea appealed to him because it reflected the story’s larger themes and showed how complicated the situation was, with no easy answers. But he knew the sequence would likely have to go. Explaining and depicting it would take considerable time, he said, keeping viewers away from Ryland Grace and Rocky for too long.
The film retains the novel’s central story of Grace being sent into space to save Earth from tiny alien organisms consuming the sun. During the mission, he meets Rocky, an alien working to save his own planet, and the two form a bond.
Goddard described the novel’s heart as “finding compassion and empathy in places you’re not even looking for them.” He said the Antarctica storyline was the major element he wished the filmmakers had found a way to include, while acknowledging that many smaller details also had to be cut.
Sources: Reactor.