"Project Hail Mary" is the next major Hollywood blockbuster to be adapted from the works of 'The Martian' author Andy Weir, and this time it's Ryan Gosling's turn to "science the s**t" out of another cosmic conundrum. In this big-screen adaptation of his hit 2021 novel, however, the problem at hand is rather bigger than getting a stranded astronaut home from Mars.
A faltering Sun means that Earth is facing the extinction-level event to end them all, and the planet's hope is a school teacher sent on an interstellar mission with extremely low odds of success. Luckily, Dr Ryland Grace is played by Ryan Gosling — a man with plenty of experience in movie heroics — and he'll have an unlikely sidekick in the form of a bizarre five-legged alien named Rocky.
Here's everything you need to know about the incoming "Project Hail Mary", a film that — like Ridley Scott's smash hit "The Martian" — promises to put the science in science fiction.
What is the Project Hail Mary movie's release date?
Amazon MGM Studios (in the US) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (elsewhere) have scheduled the "Project Hail Mary" theatrical launch window for March 20, 2026. The countdown is already ticking…
No word yet on which streaming platforms it will end up on after the theatrical release, but given that it's being distributed by Amazon MGM Studios in the US, Amazon Prime Video would be our guess.
In the meantime, you can entertain yourself by watching (or rewatching) Mark Watney's epic tale in "The Martian", which is available to stream on Netflix in the US.
What is the plot of Project Hail Mary?
Planet Earth is on the verge of climate breakdown, but in the "Project Hail Mary" story the cause is not an "Interstellar"-style manmade catastrophe. Instead, the Sun has started to dim, and it's not alone, as all the stars in our region of the galaxy are suffering from the same affliction — all, that is, except one.
When Dr Ryland Grace wakes up on board the Hail Mary spacecraft in the vicinity of the strangely unaffected Tau Ceti, he has no recollection of who he is or why he's there. To make matters worse, his shipmates have all died during the 11.9-light-year journey from Earth.
The middle school science teacher gradually remembers that his doctorate in molecular biology led to his recruitment, and that the mission is named for the fact that it's a colossal long shot. This unlikely astronaut is also convinced that he's completely unqualified to be the savior of the human race.
Luckily, however, he's not entirely by himself on the final frontier. A representative of a strange, five-legged race from the neighborhood of 40 Eridani has also made the trip, with a remarkably similar mission brief. Unfortunately, with little common ground shared between the two species — "Rocky" doesn't even have a face — communication turns out to be something of a challenge. Also, as co-director Phil Lord quipped at "Project Hail Mary"'s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, "It answers the question, that if the universe depended on it, can adult men make friends?"
Is there a Project Hail Mary trailer?
The first "Project Hail Mary" trailer landed on June 30, 2025. Just over a week later the movie's official X account announced that the video had accrued 400 million views — a seven-day record, they claimed, for an "original film that's not a sequel or remake".
As well as showing Ryland Grace pre- (no beard) and post- (lots of beard) spaceflight, this first teaser provides a thorough summary of the movie's premise for anyone yet to read Weir's novel. We're also treated to a few very brief glimpses of Ryland's extra-terrestrial BFF, though not enough to get any idea of what he'll actually look like — a "Sonic the Hedgehog"-style post-trailer makeover is unlikely to be required here.
Fans who turned up for the Comic-Con panel were also treated to a sneak peek at three scenes from the film. According to Variety, these included the opening five minutes, in which the amnesiac Grace awakens from hibernation to discover a dead crewmate; a scene in which Project Hail Mary boss Eva Stratt attempts to convince the skeptical schoolteacher of his credentials for the trip; and, finally, Grace's pivotal first meeting with Rocky.
Who is in the Project Hail Mary cast?
"Barbie" and "Blade Runner 2049" star Ryan Gosling has been attached to play Ryland Grace (as well as being a producer on the movie) since 2020. Having already played Neil Armstrong in "First Man" and with "Star Wars: Starfighter" now in production, "Project Hail Mary" is another addition to the actor's impressive outer space resumé — he's so much more than just Ken.
"I connected to [Grace's] reluctance," Gosling joked at the Comic-Con panel. "Aside from the fact he has a doctorate in molecular biology he's quite an ordinary person in this extraordinary situation. And I think what's so inspiring about him is that he reacts to a lot of things as I feel like I might or a lot of us might, and he's terrified appropriately of the task at hand. He's somebody who on Earth had given up on himself, and has been given this opportunity to believe in himself again. It's inspiring to go through with this journey with him, because he somehow finds a way to find the courage to put one foot after the other and keep going."
Gosling is joined in the "Project Hail Mary" cast by "Anatomy of a Fall" Oscar-nominee Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt, the mission's lead scientist, and Milana Vayntrub ("Other Space", "This is Us"). The identity of Vayntrub's character hasn't been officially confirmed, though it's widely believed that she's playing Olesya Ilyukhina, one of Grace's doomed colleagues. Ken Leung ("Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Lost") and Lionel Boyce ("The Bear") also have as-yet undisclosed roles in the film.
But the movie's biggest star is likely to be the stone-skinned alien Grace befriends and subsequently dubs "Rocky". Gosling was cagey about his co-star at Comic-Con, joking that, "It's too soon to talk about Rocky. He's my friend and he's not here to speak for himself, so I don't want to give up his secrets."
But it has been confirmed that the creature has been realized as a combination of puppetry and CG animation. The practical component was overseen by "Star Wars" veteran and Lucasfilm stalwart Neal Scanlan, and puppeteered by James Ortiz and a team of five "Rocky-teers".
As anyone who's read Weir's source material will know, this particular friendly extra-terrestrial is about as far from your standard "Star Trek"-style 'human with a lumpy forehead' as it's possible to get. Instead, as co-director Christopher Miller noted at Comic-Con, "Rocky does not have a face. He has no eyes, he has no mouth. He's made of rocks and has five legs with three fingers on each leg." But the filmmaker was quick to counter concerns that audiences might struggle to root for a character who doesn't have eyes, a face or a mouth, saying: "Pixar made you care about a lamp. It's possible."
Who are the Project Hail Mary director, writers, and crew?
"Project Hail Mary" is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. While the duo haven't helmed a film since 2014's "The Lego Movie" and "22 Jump Street", they have been extremely busy in the meantime, producing (among other projects) the brilliant "Spider-Verse" animated movies and "The Mitchells vs the Machines". They were also the directors of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" until the dark forces of creative differences prompted their departure, while Variety reported back in 2017 that they'd signed up to make "Artemis", an adaptation of Andy Weir's second novel (current status: unknown).
As well as writing the original novel, Weir is on board as a producer. "It was so cool because my job was just go round looking at stuff [on set]," he explained on that San Diego stage. "Pretty much every day Phil or Chris would say, 'Andy, we need to know what the exact velocity of the ship would be at this point during the story, because it's going to be on a display in the background and we want it to be right.' So just know that even if it's blurry and out of focus, any numbers that you see on a whiteboard or on a screen, I put hours into making those correct!"
Weir also revealed that the team waited several months for "The Martian"'s Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard to become available in the hope he could work similar magic on the "Project Hail Mary" script.
Daniel Pemberton ("Slow Horses", the "Spider-Verse" movies, the "LittleBigPlanet" games") is on board to compose the "Project Hail Mary" score, while Greig Fraser (whose sci-fi resumé includes two "Dunes", "The Batman", "The Creator", and "Rogue One") is on cinematography duties.
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