Project Hail Mary debuted in theaters on Friday amid highly positive reviews (95% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 98% audience score), and Sony Pictures and Amazon MGM's adaptation of Andy Weir's novel has exceeded all expectations at the box office.
PHM opened to $80.5 million in North America ($63M was predicted), making it one of only three non-sequel or franchise movies over the past decade to open to $60 million or more domestically after Jordan Peele's Us ($71 million) and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ($82 million).
This gives the sci-fi adventure the biggest opening of the year (slashing past Scream 7's $63 million), and Amazon MGM's biggest opening ever, shattering the record set by 2023’s Creed III with $58 million.
Overseas, Project Hail Mary took in $60.4 million from 82 markets for a global start of $140.9 million.
“You could feel how big this film was going to be with the rave reviews from the early screenings and massive presales. But to see it happen this weekend is amaze, amaze, amaze! Congrats to everyone to who was involved in making this film,” said Amazon MGM domestic distribution chief Kevin Wilson. “Openings like this is what makes this business special.”
A stellar start, though it is worth noting that Project Hail Mary comes with a reported $248 million ($200 million after tax credits) price tag.
"With this one, there was no cheap version of this movie," writer Drew Goddard tells THR. "We’re not making this unless we’re big and swinging for the fences. But it did feel like the type of movie you could do that. It felt like the type of movie that you’re gonna bring your kids to, you’re gonna bring your grandparents to. That’s what you’re looking for to justify the budgets. And when I’m writing it, I try to be thoughtful. But I don’t try to ever undercut the ambition. I have a big imagination. Chris and Phil have an even bigger imagination. Once we’ve made the decision to say yes, we don’t really think about budget. It’s more about what’s going to make the best movie."
Directed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and written by Drew Goddard (who also adapted Weir's The Martian for the screen), Project Hail Mary focuses on a middle-school science teacher named Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who embarks on a perilous mission to save the planet - and finds an unlikely ally in the form of a strange alien he dubs "Rocky."
In other box office news, Disney and Searchlight’s horror sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come came in slightly below estimates to take fourth place with $9 million from 3,010 North American theaters, while Indian action epic Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge claimed third place with $9.5 million from 987 locations. Disney/Pixar's Hoppers slipped into second place with $18 million, bringing its global total to $242 million after three weeks in theaters.
Do you plan on seeing Project Hail Mary in theatres? You can check out our review here.
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.
Project Hail Mary is directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Drew Goodard, based on the novel by: Andy Weir. Producers include Amy Pascal, p.g.a., Ryan Gosling, Phil Lord, p.g.a., Christopher Miller, p.g.a., Aditya Sood, p.g.a., Rachel O’Connor, p.g.a., Andy Weir. Executive Producers: Patricia Whitcher, Drew Goddard, Sarah Esberg, Lucy Kitada, Nikki Baida, and Ken Kao.
The cast also features Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub. Project Hail Mary arrives in theaters on March 20, 2026.