Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s first directorial effort since The LEGO Movie, is close to arrival to the big screen, titled Project Hail Mary. Led by a talented cast including Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall), the film has garnering major excitement amongst cinephiles and general moviegoers alike. The film is especially exciting for many novel fans as the story of Project Hail Mary stems from the exciting novel written by Andy Weir. General audiences may be familiar with Weir’s writing from the previous adaptation of one of his books The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott, which garnered an impressive 91% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes making it one of Scott’s most critically acclaimed films ever.
The combination of filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller with the impressive source material from Andy Weir has audiences eagerly anticipating Project Hail Mary. Here is everything you need to know about the film.
What Is Project Hail Mary About?
Project Hail Mary was the third novel written by Andy Weir after The Martian and Artemis, the book was published by Ballantine Books back in May 4, 2021 but the story of the novel was so popular that Amazon MGM Studios acquired the film rights to the novel a year earlier in May 2020 to allow Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to direct the film adaptation.
Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi thriller set in a near-futuristic world where the Sun has begun to erode and only one project mission is available to save humanity. The official synopsis of the film via Amazon MGM reads:
Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.
While the plot certainly holds similarities to Andy Weir’s previous work The Martian, the author has highlighted the differences between the situations that the main characters find themselves in in each story. In a conversation with Penguin Randomhouse, Weir said:
“Mark Watney just wants to survive. The stakes of The Martian are a single person’s life. And, he wants to survive, and a lot of people want to help him survive. Ryland Grace is the opposite. He is on a mission where, it’s okay if he dies, but he needs to complete his mission, or everyone else on earth will die, so it’s kind of the exact opposite.
I am very aware of the similarities between The Martian and Project Hail Mary. We have an isolated scientist far from earth, doing a lot of problem solving, but I didn’t want to have a re-run of any of the stuff from The Martian, so the problems that Ryland faces are completely different.”
Who Directed and Is Starring In Project Hail Mary?
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are a duo that are very familiar to those in the pop culture space although it may surprise some that this is their first film that they have directed since The LEGO Movie in 2014 and their first live-action film since 21 Jump Street in 2012. In animation they have been hyper-focused on producing their next animated endevaours including being heavily involved producers on the Spider-Verse trilogy that began with Into the Spider-Verse back in December 2018.
Their live-action history is a little more murky as they were originally attached to direct Solo: A Star Wars Story, a live-action prequel film for Han Solo starring Alden Ehrenreich (Ironheart) in the titular role. However, a whole list of creative and production issues throughout filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story led to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy (The Force Awakens) firing both directors from the film mid-production and replacing them with Ron Howard (Eden). Only trace amounts of their directorial efforts for Solo: A Star Wars Story can be found in the final film.
Ryan Gosling (Star Wars: Starfighter) has been firmly attached to Project Hail Mary since Amazon MGM announced their intention to develop the novel into a live-action film back in March of 2020. Gosling is involved in the film as the lead and producer with a supporting cast that includes Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), Ken Leung (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Milana Vayntrub (Werewolves Within) and James Oritz (The Woodsman).
Is ‘Project Hail Mary’ In Theaters or on Streaming?
Project Hail Mary is set to premiere exclusively in movie theaters starting on March 20, 2026. It is one of the few films that Amazon MGM is releasing in theaters this year, others include the live-action Masters of the Universe film, The Sheep Detectives and the recently released Chris Pratt-led AI thriller Mercy. Since the film is being distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, it is likely that the film will end up on Prime Video by Summer of this year alongside other upcoming titles like Spider-Noir, Blade Runner 2099 as well as the final season of The Boys.
Project Hail Mary is also set for an IMAX release, a premium format which has become highly beloved by cinephiles and general audiences alike. Often championed by iconic filmmakers like Christopher Nolan (The Odyssey) and James Cameron (Avatar: Fire and Ash), the premium format has seen large increases in box office growth over recent years whilst other parts of the theatrical industry has seen key decreases in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch The Trailers For Project Hail Mary:
So far, Amazon MGM has released 2 trailers and a small handful of TV spots for Project Hail Mary in anticipation of its March 20 release. Amazon MGM has also announced that the film will be getting a Super Bowl spot which will serve as the launchpad for the film’s final trailer ahead of a tickets sale launch in the coming weeks.
