Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir's First Sci-Fi Book Began As A Blog Post
by Ryan Scott · /FilmWe may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Andy Weir is on top of the world right now. Based on his book of the same name, "Project Hail Mary" is one of the biggest movies of 2026 and is already generating way-too-early awards season buzz. It's not even the first time one of his novels has been turned into a hit movie, either. There's also 2015's "The Martian," making him two for two. In that case, though, the whole thing was even more surprising, given that the book in question started as a series of blog posts.
Weir's "The Martian" centers on Mark, an astronaut who finds himself stranded and completely alone on Mars having to figure out how to survive until help can come. It gave rise to one of the best sci-fi movies ever where nobody dies and was Weir's first full sci-fi novel. However, it didn't come about in any sort of traditional way.
"Initially, it was just a labor of love," Weir explained in a 2015 interview with Wisconsin Public Radio. "I was posting one chapter at a time to my website, about every six to eight weeks. I got a lot of feedback from my readers, which was cool — they're scientifically-minded dorks like me, so they would point out scientific errors."
And so it went, until those blog posts got the attention of an editor, which completely changed Weir's life. As the author recalled:
"An editor at Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, heard about the book but wasn't sure whether or not to read it. He talked to a colleague of his, the literary agent David Fugate, who said, 'Well, I'll read it and let you know.' So, David read it and liked it and said, 'Hey, you need an agent?'"
The Martian started as a blog and then became a blockbuster movie
"Earlier in life, I'd spent three years trying to get a literary agent and couldn't get any interest, and then one comes knocking on my door!" Andy Weir added. "Then, David turned around to Julian and said, 'Hey Julian, how much you gonna pay us for this book?'"
Long before Weir was writing unofficial prequels to "Ready Player One" or becoming a best-selling author, he was just a guy with a blog. Then, everything changed. In the same interview, Weir revealed that Fox started trying to lock up the movie rights to "The Martian" at the same time the book deal was coming together. It all happened very fast:
"Fox came for the movie rights around the same time we were negotiating the book contract. So, they were being negotiated at the same time, and we had verbal agreements on them four days apart. It was a little stressful. You know, you daydream and fantasize about this stuff when you're writing, but you never imagine it's actually going to happen."
Ridley Scott ("Gladiator") wound up in the director's chair on "The Martian," with Matt Damon ("The Departed") starring as Mark Watney. Scott and Damon shot "The Martian" at breakneck speed, ensuring it could make its way to theaters in 2015, just over a year after the novel itself was published. It was a huge hit, taking in $630 million at the box office while also earning widespread acclaim.
Meanwhile, the book version of "The Martian" has been published in numerous languages and has sold over three million copies. And to think, all of that started with some blog posts.