Project Hail Mary Writer Andy Weir's Next Book May Tackle A Hot Button Topic

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Author Andy Weir is enjoying a major career bump in the wake of "Project Hail Mary." Based on Weir's novel of the same name, "Project Hail Mary" dominated the box office following its March 2026 debut, and was hailed as one of the best movies of 2026. At the time, Weir made the rounds promoting the latest adaptation of his work and providing his opinions on the state of modern sci-fi books. As such, his next novel will be arguably his most anticipated yet, and it seems he'll be taking the opportunity to tackle another pertinent aspect of modern culture: artificial intelligence.

Aside from his short stories, graphic novels, and web comic, Weir has written three novels. The first was 2011's "The Martian," which four years later was adapted into a Matt Damon-led feature directed by Ridley Scott. Then, there was Weir's book that was intended to launch an entire franchise: 2017's "Artemis." Rather than writing a direct sequel to that novel, however, Weir wrote "Project Hail Mary," which hit shelves in 2021. Now, following the film adaptation's success, he's gearing up to deliver his next story, and it seems artificial intelligence will form a big part of it.

In a 2024 interview, published on the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) site, the writer talked about working on his next book and provided a brief insight as to its subject. "AI plays a significant role in it," he said. "But I'm doing it my way, not writing a story about robots falling in love or anything."

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Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Andy Weir was a computer programmer, who at one point worked for Blizzard, contributing to the company's hugely-popular "Warcraft" series (specifically working on the realtime strategy game "Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness." As such, the man knows a thing or two about computers, something to which he called attention in his NAE interview. "Writing a story that involves AI is kind of in my wheelhouse because I know how computers work," he said. "And I know more about machine learning than most fiction writers, I think. So yes, I'm having some fun with that."

Weir is known for his hard sci-fi leanings, injecting his novels with real science that helps draw readers into his otherwise fictional worlds (check out /Film's recommendations for novels every Weir fan should read if you like that aspect of his writing). When it comes to artificial intelligence, then, we can surely expect more of the same, and perhaps — given Weir's familiarity with the topic — even more in-depth explorations of the science behind AI.

Just when the book will arrive, however, remains unconfirmed, as do any further details about its plot. But in 2026, Weir did provide ScreenRant with a few more specifics. "I'm working on my next book right now," he said. "I'm not talking about it publicly, but it's science fiction, of course, and it's a new standalone story. It's not a sequel to anything." The writer also said that he doesn't have a "strong enough" idea for a "Project Hail Mary" sequel at this point, which means he should be engrossed solely in his AI-focused book for now.

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An Andy Weir book with a heavy artificial intelligence element is an exciting prospect, to be sure. However, Weir has made a big thing about his tech-positive perspective in the past, and I hope that doesn't equate to AI boosterism in his writing. The author has said that modern sci-fi books are too dystopian and not nearly hopeful enough about how technology will lead us into the light. The "Project Hail Mary" author didn't hold back about "Black Mirror," criticizing what he saw as the show's "technophobia" and the fact it was "pretty much all about how technology is awful and will ruin the universe."

It's a disappointing take from Weir, and suggests there's a chance he could produce some sort of AI apologia. For whatever reason, Weir is convinced we don't have enough tech-optimism in an age wherein our collective consciousness has been hijacked by a panoply of devices cheerfully promoted by billionaire broligarchs. Some sort of surreptitious argument in favor of AI, smuggled in via a novel from arguably the world's most popular sci-fi writer, would be too much to take.

Of course, at this point, we have no idea what Weir is planning. He could be readying his scathing takedown of a technology that's thus far given us fake Drake songs and chatbots that strike a tone somewhere between sickeningly unctuous and deeply sinister. With his popularity, he's uniquely placed to help ensure the AI garbage future envisioned by Joe Russo doesn't come to pass — especially since Hollywood is almost certainly waiting to adapt his forthcoming novel. Let's hope he does the right thing.