Project Hail Mary Became Amazon MGM’s Biggest Hit Thanks to Gosling and Rocky

Few 2026 releases connected like Project Hail Mary. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel opened March 20 and went on to earn $685.3 million worldwide, the best result Amazon MGM Studios has ever had in theaters.

Ryan Gosling stars in a script by Drew Goddard, who previously adapted Weir’s The Martian and earned an Oscar nomination for it.

The story

Middle school science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship headed for Tau Ceti, the last survivor of a three-person crew, with no memory of volunteering. The mission: stop the astrophage microbes that are dimming the Sun. Out there he meets Rocky, an alien engineer whose own star is dying the same way, and an unlikely partnership begins.

The cast

• Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace;
• Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt;
• James Ortiz as Rocky;
• Ken Leung as Yao Li-Jie;
• Milana Vayntrub as Olesya Ilyukhina;
• Lionel Boyce as Carl;
• Priya Kansara as the voice of Mary, the ship’s computer.

Making it

The production shot at Shepperton Studios from June 3 to October 26, 2024, building the ship practically with no green screen and bringing in NASA advisers. Rocky was performed half by a five-person puppet team led by James Ortiz and half by Framestore’s animators. Dune Oscar winner Greig Fraser shot the film for IMAX, and Daniel Pemberton wrote the score. The net budget came to about $200 million, and the running time is 156 minutes.

The numbers

An $80.6 million domestic opening blew past $45–55 million projections. Critics followed: 95% on Rotten Tomatoes from 430 reviews, 77 on Metacritic, an A CinemaScore, and a spot on the BBC’s list of the year’s best according to Nicholas Barber. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman was a rare holdout.

Where to watch

Project Hail Mary has streamed on Prime Video since July 3 and is out on 4K and Blu-ray.