Matt Damon's 'The Martian' Skyrockets on Twitter After News of Mars Discovery

“The Martian” has seen a pronounced spike in Twitter mentions since Monday, when media reports on the discovery of water on the Red Planet first surfaced.

That suggests that awareness of the Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi film starring Matt Damon, which opens via 20th Century Fox on Friday, has received a boost from the Mars reports that dominated news coverage on Monday and have continued to bubble since.

Whether that translates into box office remains to be seen, but it can’t hurt; “The Martian” is already headed for the box office stratosphere, with projections forecasting a debut at No. 1 with around $45 million, according to most industry analysts. But those estimates were calculated on Tuesday, before the impact of the news reports could be assessed.

Also Read: Matt Damon's 'The Martian' Latest Movie to Challenge the Curse of Red Planet

On Sunday, prior to the news, the space saga was mentioned in 10,733 tweets. On Monday, after the reports broke, the number of mentions skyrocketed to 29,894, according to BoxOffice.com’s Pro Daily Report. That number peaked at 38,979 on Tuesday, then dropped back to a still-high 29,689. By comparison, another sci-fi space saga from a prominent director, Christopher Nolan‘s “Interstellar,” was mentioned in 5,990 tweets two days before its release.

On Thursday, online ticket broker Fandango reported that sales for “The Martian” were running ahead of those for “Gravity” at a similar point in the run-up to their respective releases. The Sandra Bullock-George Clooney sci-fi tale debuted to an October record $55.7 million on this weekend two years ago.

9 Worst Grossing 'Mars' Movies of All Time (Photos)

INVADERS FROM MARS (1986)
The '50s sci-fi remake opened to a disastrous $2 million and earned less than $5 million on a budget of $7 million.
Cannon Pictures
MARS ATTACKS (1996)
Tim Burton's blockbuster streak was broken with the Earth-invasion flick, which earned less than $10 million in its opening weekend and ending just north of $100 million after costing $70 million.
Warner Bros.
MY FAVORITE MARTIAN (1999)
Starring Jeff Daniels, Christopher Lloyd, Daryl Hannah and Elizabeth Hurley, this big-screen adaptation of the 1960s TV series earned just under $37 million on a $65 million budget.
Walt Disney Pictures
MISSION TO MARS (2000)
Opening to less than $23 million, the Tim Robbins/Gary Sinise vehicle totaled $110 million on a $100 million budget.
Touchstone Pictures
GHOSTS OF MARS (2001)
The John Carpenter film starring Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge cost $28 million to produce, and only earned back half that amount.
Screen Gems
MARTIAN CHILD (2007)
The second John Cusack credit on our Mars list cost $27 million to produce, but clocked in at just $9.3 million worldwide.
New Line Cinema
MARS NEEDS MOMS (2011)
The John Cusack/Seth Green film opened to less $7 million on its opening weekend, ultimately earning less than $40 million worldwide on a $150 million budget.
Walt Disney Pictures
JOHN CARTER (2012)
Originally titled "John Carter of Mars," the film opened to $30 million and earned $284 million worldwide, but still cost Disney $200 million when all was said and done.
Walt Disney Pictures
THE LAST DAYS ON MARS (2013)
Claiming a budget of $10 million, the Liev Schreiber sci-fi thriller earned a paltry $24,084.
Magnet Releasing
VERONICA MARS
(2014) Despite a formidable Kickstarter campaign, this adaptation of the Kristen Bell TV series could only scratch out $3.5 million on a budget of $6 million.
Warner Bros. Pictures