Whether The Martian Is A Comedy Debate Settled By Director Ridley Scott 10 Years Later

Ridley Scott settles the score on the debate of whether The Martian is a comedy. Released in 2015, the sci-fi feature sees Matt Damon’s Mark Watney stranded on Mars after a fierce storm blew his fellow astronauts off the planet. Many critics point out the film’s lightheartedness in depicting a hopeless situation. In 2016, the space movie won a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture in a Comedy or Musical, leading many to debate whether The Martian fits the genre.

During the director’s roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, Scott discussed the filming of The Martian, where he dropped a comment about it as a comedy. When asked about the rumor that his 2015 movie was more expensive to make than sending a rover to Mars, Scott revealed that The Martian‘s production cost was “$80 million,” but the studio didn’t see it as “a comedy” at first. This resulted in the film being shelved for “two years” until the director was asked to take a look, and he recalled finding it “really funny.” Check out what Scott said below:

ROSS (To Scott) I heard The Martian was more expensive to make than it was to send a rover to Mars. Is that true?

SCOTT: No, I think we cost about $80 million. The studio didn’t realize it’s actually a comedy, so it sat on the shelf for two years and then they said, “Do you want to look at this?” And I read it and said, “It’s really funny.”

What This Means For The Martian

The Martian Was Intended As A Comedy

According to the latest Golden Globe Awards eligibility and consideration rules, the film’s category is determined by what “best matches the overall tone and content of the motion picture,” meaning that for a drama to qualify as a comedy, the comedic elements must outweigh its dramatic tone. Scott’s comment clarifies that The Martian was always intended to be a comedy in a sci-fi space setting, which was why he entered the film in the Comedy or Musical category.

Aside from going home with the Award in the Motion Picture category, Damon won the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for The Martian, and Scott also received a nomination for directing the film. The filmmaker’s decision to enter the film in the Comedy category (and won) was widely criticized, leading the Foreign Press Association to modify its rules from 2017 onwards, resulting in the clarification listed on the current rule sheet: “a motion picture that is primarily intended to have a serious or dramatic tone but contains comedic overtones or elements should be entered as a drama.”

Our Take On Whether The Martian Is Comedy

We May Have Missed The Point

It’s a clever move on Scott’s part to enter The Martian as a comedy rather than drama since it would have to compete with The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spotlight, Room, and Carol. The Leonardo DiCaprio-led movie was the winner of the race. DiCaprio also won the Golden Globe Award as the lead actor. It’s unlikely that The Martian or Damon would be able to beat DiCaprio or The Revenant in the same category since the film was a favorite during the award season. Scott’s decision to enter it as a comedy played a crucial role in its Golden Globes win.

There is no denying that The Martian has comedic overtones and elements. However, as an epic sci-fi film depicting a depressing situation where one man is trapped alone in space, its tone is too lighthearted to take the situation seriously. Scott’s comment also implies that while many believe his 2015 space adventure is a sci-fi thriller, they may have missed the entire point of the film. Either way, The Martian is due for a rewatch.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter