After more than a decade out of director's chairs, the duo tell IndieWire about tackling Andy Weir's beloved novel, making audiences fall in love with a talking rock alien, and lessons from Yoda.

Project Hail Mary follows science teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up alone on a spacecraft with amnesia. Tasked with saving Earth from a dimming Sun, he befriends an alien, Rocky, as they race against ...