Ryan Gosling Learns to Survive in Deep Space in Project Hail Mary

Six years ago, Ridley Scott’s The Martian was one of the best-reviewed and most successful films of the year. Based on the self-published debut novel by Andy Weir, it was funny, tense, unexpectedly emotional, and featured one of the best screenwriters ever to land on a Hollywood page: Matt Damon. If anyone out there could come even remotely close to the buzz of that project, it would be the next book from Weir, 2021’s best-selling Project Hail Mary. And while Weir has a well-earned reputation for sticking closely to his scripts, this time he’ll be working with screenwriter Drew Goddard on the adaptation.

Project Hail Mary might not be as close to a slam dunk as The Martian, but Amazon MGM Studios has the pedigree to pull it off, and the first trailer certainly looks like a great space epic in the making. Goddard, the two-time Oscar nominee behind smart, brainy blockbusters like the original Cabin in the Woods and last year’s Oscar-nominated Spider-Man: No Way Home, is back as screenwriter. Directorially, the Project has two of the most charismatic and respected comedy filmmakers of the last two decades attached in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, best known for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The LEGO Movie. Ryan Gosling, who has developed a knack for taking on interesting science fiction roles in recent years, is the film’s primary draw as the story’s hero. Between the name talent and all three of the filmmakers attached, there’s every reason to be excited for the project, even for non-hardcore fans of Weir’s books.

While most projects like this would take years to move from publication to release, the studios at MGM/Amazon were already interested in the book well before it was even published. Early in the writing process, they bought the rights to the film, and Goddard was attached to write the screenplay soon after. For those who saw The Martian, Goddard is an excellent choice to helm the adaptation. His script for the Weir adaptation was an excellent, faithful translation of Weir’s prose and earned him an Oscar nomination. As for Lord and Miller, the two have certainly had their share of hits and misses over the years. However, their ability to take on more sincere and dramatic material, like 2018’s Solo, as well as their proven track record with comedy, might be just what the book needs.

Spoilers for the Project Hail Mary film are ahead.

The film is set in the future, and the film’s leading man, Ryland Grace, played by Gosling, is in a bit of a bind. He wakes up alone on a spaceship with a big secret: he can’t remember who he is or why he’s floating out in space in the first place. It doesn’t take long for the audience to figure out that Grace is a science teacher by day, but the trailer doesn’t give up that easily, instead cutting quickly between his panicked reactions to waking up in an unfamiliar environment to instances from before. We get glimpses of Grace in flashback as a clean-shaven astronaut on Earth, teaching a classroom full of eager elementary school students who are his own. That all changes when he’s approached by a mysterious character played by Sandra Hüller, who’s played everything from Bond Girl in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to a fellow scientist in T-34 before taking on the task of running a top-secret mission in Nicole Kidman’s most recent directorial outing, The Sky Below.

When Grace’s new mysterious contact offers him the chance to solve the biggest mystery in space, he doesn’t immediately jump at the opportunity. Grace, it turns out, is no space hero, as the trailer reveals. “I put the ‘not’ in astronaut,” he says at one point. “I can’t even moonwalk!” Despite the character’s qualms about his ability to launch into space, things come to a head as Hüller’s Eva Stratt gives Grace a choice that he can’t refuse: either go into space and attempt to solve a major issue that is likely to destroy the planet, or stay home and die with the rest of the world. As it turns out, the Sun is going out, but that’s only the beginning. All of the surrounding stars are dimming with a single exception. Scientists on Earth have no idea why, but many have their suspicions that some cosmic phenomenon might be at work. As a former molecular biologist, the former teacher might be their best option.

Project Hail Mary Balances Tension and Humor

The new trailer for Project Hail Mary is another reminder of the simple fact that Gosling, while he has many great dramatic parts in his resume, is at his best in lighter, funnier material. The Martian had the perfect balance of characters and stakes, with an excellent performance from Damon’s space cowboy astronaut. Hail Mary has a better chance of replicating that with Gosling in the leading role and the same screenwriter for the adaptation. Add to that some of the best comedy filmmakers working in Hollywood today, and there’s every reason to be excited about this project.

At this point, Project Hail Mary is scheduled for a March 20, 2026, release date, giving anyone who is worried about getting spoiled for it plenty of time to avoid it, but also gives time to read up on the book so audiences can prepare to experience the novel in a new way. Whether they succeed or not, fans of hard sci-fi and astronauts with bad attitudes alike will have a lot to be excited about when the film is finally released.