Andy Weir is heading back into space—but this time, he isn’t writing another novel.

The bestselling author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary is executive producing Exoplanet, a new Audible Original sci-fi thriller written by novelist Benjamin Percy. The full-cast production arrives exclusively on Audible on November 5, 2026.

Read Our Review: Project Hail Mary Review: Is It Worth Reading? (2026)

A Space Crew Scattered Across Centuries

The premise of Exoplanet is built around one extraordinary problem: what happens when a spaceship crew is separated not by distance, but by time?

The story follows the crew of the starship Wild Blue Yonder, which is destroyed by a quantum anomaly. The surviving crew members crash onto the same dangerous planet—but each one arrives in a different era.

Chief Engineer Jeff Shaw, voiced by Anthony Mackie, finds himself in the planet’s present. First Officer Becca Bang, voiced by Ariana DeBose, is stranded in its hostile past. Science Officer Logan Bowers, voiced by John Leguizamo, wakes up in a machine-dominated future.

Separated by centuries, the crew has to find a way to communicate across time.

And they aren’t alone.

An Alien Intelligence Is Waiting

The quantum anomaly that destroyed the Wild Blue Yonder wasn’t random.

A powerful alien intelligence is feeding on human technology—and it has been waiting across the planet’s different timelines.

That means the crew isn’t simply trying to survive their individual environments. They have to work together across centuries to understand what happened and prevent the planet from consuming them all.

It’s a premise that combines space survival, time travel, mystery, and hard science fiction.

Andy Weir Is Executive Producing

Weir isn’t the sole author of Exoplanet.

The project was written by Benjamin Percy, whose work includes novels as well as comic-book writing, while Weir serves as executive producer.

That distinction is important: Exoplanet is not a new Andy Weir novel. It’s an original audio drama that brings Weir’s science-driven storytelling sensibilities into a different format.

Weir has said that the story appealed to him because it combines the kind of complicated problem-solving he enjoys with the emotional challenge of characters separated by hundreds of years.

A Star-Studded Cast

The production has assembled an impressive voice cast.

Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose, and John Leguizamo lead the project, with additional performances from Cherry Jones, Sufe Bradshaw, Charlie Plummer, Aida Osman, and Ray Porter.

Ray Porter is also familiar to many audiobook listeners as the narrator of Project Hail Mary and other major science-fiction productions.

Designed as an Immersive Audio Experience

Exoplanet is being built specifically for audio rather than simply treating the format as a traditional audiobook.

Skywalker Sound is providing the immersive sound design, while composer Rob Cairns created an original score. The production will use Dolby Atmos, giving the story a cinematic soundscape designed to surround the listener.

That makes Exoplanet particularly interesting for readers who enjoy audiobooks but want something closer to a full audio drama.

When Does Exoplanet Release?

Exoplanet launches exclusively on Audible on:

November 5, 2026

Written by: Benjamin Percy
Executive producer: Andy Weir
Format: Audible Original sci-fi thriller
Lead cast: Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose, John Leguizamo
Sound design: Skywalker Sound
Original score: Rob Cairns
Release date: November 5, 2026

Why Sci-Fi Readers Should Watch This

For fans who discovered Andy Weir through The Martian or Project Hail Mary, Exoplanet offers a familiar combination of science, survival, impossible problems, and human determination—but in a completely different format.

The idea of communicating across centuries also gives the story a particularly strong hook.

Instead of asking how far a message has to travel through space, Exoplanet asks whether a message can survive 500 years of time.

That’s a compelling setup for an audio thriller.

The Bottom Line

Exoplanet isn’t Andy Weir’s next novel, but it could become one of his most interesting projects yet.

With Benjamin Percy writing, Andy Weir executive producing, and Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose, and John Leguizamo leading the cast, the Audible Original has assembled some serious talent around an ambitious science-fiction concept.

And for Project Hail Mary fans waiting for another dose of Weir-style space survival, November 5 can’t come soon enough.

Read Our Review: Project Hail Mary Review: Is It Worth Reading? (2026)