The Children of "The Martian" (A continuation of Chapter Nine in the book)

As I indicated in the book Mars in the Movies, 2015’s straight-to-video Martian Land was produced and marketed by The Asylum production company as a The Martian wannabe. Whether you call it a knockoff or a clone or a masterpiece, it wouldn’t exist if early interest in Ridley Scott’s The Martian hadn’t shown that there was still plenty more ore (dollars) to be mined from The Martian’s veins. I also noted that some older quasi-amateur and hyper-low-budget Mars projects long consigned to memory have returned from the dead to see the light of a new day (mostly on streaming sites).

Included in the book Chapter Nine

Included in the book Chapter Nine

.The film trade has a very long history of this sort of thing. Indeed, in the context of the book and this blog, remember that 1950’s Rocketship X-M and 1951’s Flight to Mars were clear and unrepentant knockoffs of 1950’s Destination Moon. Then the 1953 re-release of the classic giant monster movie King Kong inspired into existence Ray Harryhausen’s giant monster movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which in turn inspired the giant ant movie THEM!, which provided the impetus for at least a dozen giant insect movies and any number of other giant creature movies.

Back in mid-2016, as my book was preparing to go to press, I became aware of four new Mars-related media projects pictured here available for viewing right then. Three of these projects I had in fact been able to view at the last minute, so in the spirit of keeping the book as up-to-date as possible, I included all of these films in a new chapter, "Chapter Nine: The Children of The Martian." 

Included in the book Chapter Nine

Included in the book Chapter Nine

Now it is early April 2021 and in these five years, I've found 46 more completed post-The Martian productions for theatrical release and TV (see graphic poster collage). The existence of all 46 of these films and programs is a direct consequence of The Martian's financial success. If you add the four other brand new ones that I was able to squeeze into the book at the last minute, that's 60 completed productions. Plus there are eight or ten announcements of projects that may or may not see the light of day.  Realistically, this compilation of titles and posters is a work in progress, as there doesn't seem to be an end in sight!  Which is a good thing, no doubt.

 

 

Still, here is an amazing thing! My book MARS IN THE MOVIES: A HISTORY covers Mars film and video productions for various media from 1910 to 2016. It so happens, that the number of those films equals about 100. (I say "about" because a few are a little fuzzy around the edges and it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what they are.) Well, do the math.  One hundred Mars movies in 106 years, followed by 60 in only seven years.

Speaking of "fuzzy" around the edges, check back at some point and you'll find I added a list of the movie titles that correspond to the posters above, because the resolution of the images, frankly, ranges from poor to just OK.

Therefore, to make an important point about how this snowball keeps getting bigger and bigger, I will include here posters of the wannabes, clones, and knock-offs that have been born since The Martian opened (actually even BEFORE because some of the projects were begun before the release of The Martian in anticipation of its success).

In the meantime, thumbnails and trailers are happily available at The Mars Society—San Diego's film site, "The Mars Movie Guide," which is curated by Mars Society of San Diego's Gerry Williams:  https://marsmovieguide.com/

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