‘It’s an Insanely Ambitious Story’: What We Know About Ryan Gosling’s Sci-Fi Adaptation ‘Project Hail Mary’
One thing is for sure, this film is guaranteed to be an out-of-this-world adventure
If you’ve ever been on BookTok (book TikTok), then you’ve probably heard of the wildly popular science fiction book Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Currently, it has over 800,000 ratings on Goodreads and even won the app’s highly coveted Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction Award back in 2021. Given all this success, it makes total sense that it’s being turned into a movie, starring none other than Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling as astronaut Ryland Grace. But what exactly is it going to be about? And when will the Project Hail Mary movie be released? We have all of that must-know information and more below.
What is ‘Project Hail Mary’ about?
Project Hail Mary was originally published in May 2021 by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It follows an astronaut named Ryland Grace, who is the sole survivor of a desperate mission to stop humanity and Earth from perishing. The only problem? One day, he wakes up and doesn’t know who he is or what his mission is. Desperate to figure it out, Ryland soon embarks on a mission to figure out what happened and how it could help him save everyone and everything.
“Ryland Grace, it’s not a story of him trying to survive. It’s much more about finding a way to solve this problem that has afflicted our sun,” Weir, the author of both Project Hail Mary and The Martian, turned into a movie in 2015 starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott, told Penguin Random House. “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.”
“For instance, he’s got plenty of food. He’s fine on the food and, with a few very minor exceptions, his ship works correctly. All of his equipment works, never breaks down and does what it’s supposed to, because unlike Mark, who is stranded on Mars using equipment that’s supposed to last for 30 days and has to live there for two years, Grace is on a ship that was made for this purpose.”
What to know about the ‘Project Hail Mary’ movie
Shortly after the book was released, it was announced that Project Hail Mary would be turned into a movie by MGM studios with Gosling (The Notebook and Barbie) set to take on the role of Ryland. The film will also star Sandra Hüller (Toni Erdmann and Anatomy of a Fall).
It will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who previously collaborated as filmmakers on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), and written by Drew Goddard, who also wrote the screenplay for The Martian in 2015. Weir is expected to work on the film as a producer.
“It’s an insanely ambitious story that’s massive in scope, and it seemed really hard to make, and that’s kind of our bag,” Gosling said about the film at CinemaCon, per Variety. “This is why we go to the movies, and I’m not just saying it because I’m in it. I’m also saying it because I’m a producer on the film.”
‘Project Hail Mary’ movie trailer and release date
Project Hail Mary is coming to theaters on March 20, 2026, and you can watch the official trailer for it below!
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