| Project Hail Mary | |
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| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Phil Lord Christopher Miller |
| Screenplay by | Drew Goddard |
| Based on | Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Greig Fraser |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Daniel Pemberton |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 156 minutes [2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget |
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| Box office | $422 million [4] [5] |
Project Hail Mary is a 2026 American science fiction film produced and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and written by Drew Goddard, based on the 2021 novel by Andy Weir. It stars Ryan Gosling (who also produced the film alongside Weir) as the protagonist Ryland Grace, a man who awakens on an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of how he came to be there. The film also stars Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, and Lionel Boyce.
Project Hail Mary premiered in London on March 9, 2026, and was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on March 20, 2026, with Sony Pictures Releasing International releasing in other territories. The film received positive reviews and has grossed $422 million, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2026.
Ryland Grace awakens from an induced coma on an interstellar spacecraft. Initially erratic with retrograde amnesia, Grace discovers that he is the sole survivor of the three-person crew on board, and that he is light-years away from Earth in a distant solar system.
Grace slowly remembers that he is an American middle-school science teacher and former molecular biologist. In the past, scientists observe the Sun dimming, and an infrared line ("Petrova line") forming from the Sun to Venus. Within thirty years, the dimming will result in a catastrophic global cooling of the Earth, as a microorganism known as "astrophage" [a] proliferates on the Sun's surface. Government agent Eva Stratt recruits Grace and other scientists from around the world to study astrophage.
Grace discovers that astrophage are single-celled organisms impenetrable to any form of electromagnetic radiation. Further work reveals that astrophage breed on Venus, feeding on the planet's carbon-dioxide atmosphere and energy from the Sun, and that the Petrova line is the result of astrophage propulsive emissions as they migrate between the Sun and Venus. Their emissions can be used to construct an incredibly efficient but dangerous spacecraft engine. Astrophage have infected other stars within Earth's solar neighborhood; Stratt discloses Project Hail Mary, an international effort to send a crew to Tau Ceti, the only undimmed nearby star. It is a suicide mission; the Hail Mary spacecraft can only carry enough astrophage fuel for a one-way trip, but will carry probes to send the crew's findings back to Earth.
In the present, as Grace approaches Tau Ceti, he sees an alien spacecraft. The spacecraft, which docks with Hail Mary, is made of solid xenon that Grace dubs "xenonite". The pilot of the other ship is a rock-like, five-legged alien from a planet in the 40 Eridani A system, whom Grace names "Rocky" after Rocky Balboa. Grace deduces that Eridians have no eyes but instead "see" via echolocation, and he creates a machine translation system to interpret Rocky's musical chords-like speech. Rocky explains that he is a mechanic and also the sole survivor of a mission by Eridians to stop the astrophage. Neither can survive in the other's atmosphere, so Rocky enters Hail Mary using a small, pressurized ball of xenonite as a spacesuit.
Following Tau Ceti's Petrova line, Grace and Rocky find that the planet Tau Ceti e—which they name "Adrian" after Rocky's mate Adrian Pennino—harbors an organism that preys on astrophage, controlling their population. After learning that Grace cannot return home, Rocky offers enough astrophage to refuel Hail Mary. While gathering the organism from the upper atmosphere of Adrian, a fuel leak causes an uncontrollable spin that renders Grace unconscious. Rocky breaks his spacesuit and saves Grace, but is severely injured. While Rocky recovers in hibernation, Grace finds a way to breed the astrophage-consuming organism, which he names "Taumoeba." Rocky recovers, and he and Grace part as friends to their respective home planets.
In the past, Grace meets Hail Mary's commander, engineer, and scientist, and their backups. While doing an experiment with astrophage, an accident kills the scientist and backup three days before launch. With no time to train a replacement, Stratt asks Grace to take the place of the deceased scientists. When Grace refuses, Stratt has him drugged and forcibly put on the Hail Mary.
During the trip to Earth, Grace discovers that the Taumoeba have developed the ability to pass through their xenonite containers and are eating Hail Mary's astrophage fuel. Grace fixes the problem on his ship but realizes that Rocky's entire ship is made of xenonite, allowing the Taumoeba to consume all of his fuel. Left with the choice of returning to Earth or saving Rocky and the Eridians, Grace chooses the latter, sending the Taumoeba and his research to Earth via the probes.
The probes deliver to Stratt what humanity needs to stop astrophage from darkening the sun. The Eridians create a biodome on their planet for Grace to live in. Rocky tells him that Eridian scientists have finished preparing Hail Mary to return to Earth. While contemplating the news, Grace begins another day of teaching science to Eridian children.
Additionally, Ray Porter and Meryl Streep provided brief alternate voices for Rocky, with Porter reprising his role from the audiobook. [12]
In March 2020, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was nearing a deal to acquire the project, an adaptation of the then-upcoming Andy Weir novel Project Hail Mary , with Ryan Gosling set to star in and produce the film. [6] The rights for the novel were acquired for $3 million. [13] In May 2020, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were hired to direct and produce the film. [14] Due to Lord & Miller being unable to work on the screenplay themselves because of commitments to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , Drew Goddard (who previously adapted Weir's The Martian into a feature film) was hired to write the screenplay the next month. [15] [16] In April 2024, Amazon MGM Studios, which acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2022, [17] announced a possible 2026 release window for the film. [18] In May 2024, Sandra Hüller joined the cast of the film, with Greig Fraser hired as cinematographer. [19] In June 2024, Milana Vayntrub joined the cast. [20]
Principal photography began on June 3, 2024, in the United Kingdom and wrapped on October 26, 2024. [21] [22] Filming occurred at Shepperton Studios. [23] Location filming took place at the South Parade Pier in Portsmouth, [24] the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cambridge, [25] and Durdle Door. [26]
The movie was “filmed for IMAX" [b] by using large-sensor Arri Alexa 65 cameras, which provide 6.5K or 20 MP of resolution, with an aspect ratio of 2.1:1, [28] utilizing the whole sensor with anamorphic lenses rotated by 90 degrees to achieve the IMAX standard 1.43:1 aspect ratio. For regular presentations, the common 2:1 format was derived by cropping the top and bottom of the IMAX image. The film switches between taller and wider aspect ratios. When a scene takes place in the present, a taller aspect ratio is used — 1.43:1 for IMAX 15/70mm or Dual Laser, 1.85:1 for Xenon or Single Laser and 2.00:1 for non-IMAX presentations. For scenes in the past, an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, the standard ratio for anamorphic process cinematography, was achieved with the regular use of anamorphic lenses. [29]
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Miller mentioned that no greenscreen was used in the movie, with the entire set being shot practically. [30] Miller had previously stated that VFX was used to depict the spaceship from the outside, while shots of Gosling in space were shot against a black or varying color backdrop. [31]
The film's visual effects were provided by Framestore (which also collaborated on the film adaptation of The Martian ), [32] Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Sony Pictures Imageworks, BUF and Wylie Co. VFX, with Paul Lambert and Mags Sarnowska serving as visual effects supervisors. [33] Joel Negron edited the film. [1]
While puppeteer James Ortiz voiced Rocky during filming with Gosling, it was initially thought that he would be replaced by a more high profile actor. However, Lord and Miller felt that Ortiz's performance could not be improved upon during screenings of the film. [34] Phil Lord praised the collaboration between visual and practical effects in the creation of the character Rocky's performance:
Rocky was built and designed by the legendary Neal Scanlan and his creature shop and is performed by puppeteering legend James Ortiz and his team, who were on set with Ryan in every scene. Rocky's performance is a beautiful collaboration between the James and the other Rockyteers on set and the wonderful animators at Framestore led by the funny soulful Arslan Elver. [35]
The digitally produced movie was transferred to film stock and then re-digitized in order to achieve the visual properties ("warmth") of analog film. [29] The initial test screening of the film was 3 hours and 45 minutes long and was cut down to the final length due to feedback from the screenings. [36]
It was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Daniel Pemberton would score the film. Pemberton previously worked with Lord and Miller on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, which they produced. This is the first film Lord and Miller have directed to not be scored by Mark Mothersbaugh. [37]
The score, consisting of 38 tracks, was released digitally on March 20, 2026. [38] The film also included fourteen other songs, including "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles, "Two of Us" by The Beatles and "Gracias a la vida" sung by Mercedes Sosa. [39]
The film's title is a reference to the Hail Mary pass in American football, a last ditch, desperate effort to score with slim chances of success. [40]
The first trailer was released on June 30, 2025. [41] It was the most viewed trailer for any original movie in the first week of its release, accumulating 400 million views globally. [42]
Lego released a model of the Hail Mary spacecraft on March 1, 2026, as part of the Lego Icons series. [43]
Project Hail Mary was released on March 20, 2026, by Amazon MGM Studios in the United States and Canada, and Sony Pictures Releasing International in all other countries. It was also released in IMAX theaters, with a 1.43:1 aspect ratio. [44] [45] [46] [47]
As of April 5,2026 [update] , Project Hail Mary has grossed $218 million in the United States and Canada and $203 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $422 million. [4] [5] [48] [49] While Variety estimated that most films costing $200 million to produce would need to gross at least $500 million to break even [50] , Amazon MGM says it uses a different metric, where the big screen provides a halo effect that boosts subscriptions and viewership on Prime Video.
In the United States and Canada, Project Hail Mary was released alongside Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and The Pout-Pout Fish , and was projected to gross $63–65 million in North America from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend. [50] Initially, publications estimated that the film would gross $45–55 million. [51] After grossing $31 million on opening day, including $12 million in previews, the film debuted to $80.6 million in the United States and Canada [48] and $60.4 million overseas for a worldwide total of $141 million, [49] becoming Amazon MGM Studios' biggest debut to date. [48]
Metacritic review
breakdown (unweighted)
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 95% of 372 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "A visually dazzling space odyssey that's carried along effortlessly by the gravitational pull of Ryan Gosling at his most winning, Project Hail Mary is a near-miraculous fusion of smarts and heart." [52] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [53] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [54]
G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle deemed it "a masterpiece of a family popcorn movie, with eye-popping hand-crafted production design and outstanding creature design and puppetry work." [55] In a three-and-a half out of five rating, Randy Myers of San Jose Mercury News said, "While you can't help but marvel at the visuals and applaud the commitment of Gosling's endearing performance, what also makes Project Hail Mary so gosh darn lovable is that it imbues us with child-like wonder from scenes that pay homage to such classics as E.T. , Flight of the Navigator and, yes, Rocky ." [56]
Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph concluded in his review, "Does it have many original ideas of its own? Perhaps not. But its greatest hits mixtape of other people's has been compiled with such flair – as well as a sound comprehension of why they worked so well the first time – that it's hard not to be swept up regardless." [57] Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail shared a similar opinion, writing, "At almost every turn, Project Hail Mary attempts to convince you that it is groundbreaking, innovative filmmaking. But in actuality, the movie lands as a grand act of cinematic recycling – the fusing together of familiar, comforting bits and pieces into something determined to please crowds and warm hearts." [58]
Amy Nicholson of The Los Angeles Times wrote, "While Stanley Kubrick's unsentimental 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired the iPad, Lord and Miller want to inspire a better version of us." [59] Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film a four out of four rating, stating that "Project Hail Mary is one of those old-school popcorn movies with big ideas, the kind of film that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas would have made back in the day and kids of all ages would have obsessed over and bought the toys." [60] Ryan Cooper of The American Prospect wrote that the film portrayed a "shockingly realistic view of heroism" and was "one of the rare films that is quite a bit better than the book". [61]
Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian : "Gosling is an effortlessly charming screen player, and he keeps it watchable, though the film itself has moments of dullness and a sort of puppyish silliness ... Perhaps refreshingly, the film doesn't aim for the stunned awe and rapture of, say, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar or even Jon Spaihts' underrated Passengers , but it does have the classic sci-fi spacecraft tropes: the huge, mysterious architecture with its vertiginous tunnels in which legacy pop music is played to soothe the inhabitants." [62]
Grand Valley State University anthropology professor Deana Weibel praised Grace's intellectual humility in the film. [63]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | February 28, 2026 | Best Music Supervision in a Trailer (Film) | Vanessa Jorge Perry and Tyler Torrison ("Project Hail Mary – Official Trailer") | Nominated | [64] |