Sean Bean has been cast alongside Matt Damon in Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi feature, The Martian. The film is based on an e-book written by Andy Weir, and Damon plays an astronaut who is stranded in a Martian colony. He just has to survive long enough for NASA to organize a reuse mission and come after him.
According to THR, Bean will play a NASA flight director, so there's a good chance that this will be a movie that he won't die in. Bean joins an all-star cast that also includes Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, and Kristen Wiig. Other recent cast additions include Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sebastian Stan.
It's always great to see Bean in the movies, and I'm sure this will be a great part for him. Here's a more detailed description from the book:
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?