For the second year in a row, Hollywood is sending Matt Damon into space. After his brief appearance in Interstellar, Damon is returning to star in The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott. We've been hearing about the film for some time, but we're just now getting our first official look at the film, courtesy of a "viral" promo video.

The video has the look and feel of a NASA video log from the International Space Station, as botanist Mark Watney (Damon) introduces viewers to the crew, which includes the pilot Rick Martinez (Michael Pena, End of Watch), commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan, Captain America), Aleks Vogel (Aksel Hennie, Hercules), and "computer expert" Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara, House of Cards). Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), and Kristen Wiig round out the cast, though they don't make an appearance here.

If this promo video is indicative of the movie, it seems the filmmakers may have successfully brought over some of the light-hearted feel from the source material, Andy Weir's 2012 hit novel of the same name. The crew-mates don't just poke fun at each other on-camera — be sure to keep an eye out for some of the silly "tweets" and comments that pop up alongside the "live stream."

According to the official synopsis for the film, The Martian will see Damon's character abandoned on the surface of Mars when the rest of the crew assumes he's dead after a massive storm. He'll have to make do with few supplies as he attempts to survive and signal back to Earth for pickup. The film's set for release on November 25th, and hopefully a full trailer is coming soon.

Verge Video archive: Can we colonize Mars?