First, as seen in the trailer, there is a place Hail Mary The ship where Ryland Grace can project 360-degree surround photos to remind you of different places on Earth. A forest, a beach, etc. He also shows these things to his alien friend, Rocky. This location and technique are not in Weir’s book but are taken from some of the ideas in the book.
“We talked a lot about how we could create a visual spectacle from the book that you would have to see in a movie theater,” Lord told io9. “So, trying to figure out if I was going to be spending so much time on this ship, I needed something that could give me that scale. And so we came up with the ‘Don’t Go Crazy’ room.”
So what is the “Don’t Go Crazy” room, and why did they do it? “It’s a bunch of screens around [area] It allows you to experience a different environment,” Miller said. “And it was kind of based on the book, because so much of the book is about how they’re very worried about astronauts fighting each other or going crazy or being suicidal in space. And so mental health is a big concern in the film. You’re saying, ‘Well, one way to not get cabin fever from looking at the same walls every day is to have a zen room where you can meditate and see different environments and feel like you’ve been transported.’ And it would be great visually too, and so it was a great opportunity.
Another change was even more ambitious. Since most of the film takes place in one location, Hail Mary spacecraft, the team came up with the idea of doing something different. Literally. “The ship in Andy’s book is very beautiful and simple,” Lord said. “We were like, ‘Okay, what if each room was in two different states of gravity?’ So, like when Ryan wakes up, there are chairs pressed against the edge of the wall. This will make the ship more mysterious. More disorienting.”
The biggest change is also that the book is largely told in the first person. We read Grace’s thoughts. We are always inside his mind. And even then, you don’t want an entire movie with voiceovers. So, Lord and Miller came up with ways to express it visually. Lord said, “We needed to find ways that were cinematic, so that you could experience what Ryan was experiencing.” “So how do I give the audience that illusion when I wake up? How do I give them that sense of awe knowing that I’m sitting here bathed in these germs that are from the same planet as me, but they’re invisible? OK, we can show you that. And so we spent a lot of time finding ways that were consistent and in harmony with the spirit of the book but giving you an experience that was additional to the book. So that these two things could become great companion pieces.”
There are some other, heavily spoiler-filled changes, too, but fans of the book will know them when they see them, and we won’t spoil it here.
basically, project hail mary The film takes everything good about Andy Weir’s book and tries to make it better. You can see it yourself in theaters on March 20.
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