Project Hail Mary box office: Ryan Gosling leads $140M global opening with 95% Rotten Tomatoes score

Project Hail Mary had a triumphant opening weekend, with a staggering $140.9 million worldwide. The debut marks the biggest opening of 2026 and a milestone for Amazon MGM.

Directed by Lord and Christopher Miller, the film proved that audiences still love strong sci-fi stories. Starring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, the story follows a man who wakes up on a spacecraft with a bad case of amnesia and the weight of humanity on his shoulders. The heart of the film lies in the unlikely friendship between Ryland Grace and Rocky, a multi-legged alien brought to life with practical effects that make him feel startlingly real.

There has been much praise for their communication through music, models, and a clever translation program has been hailed as the movie’s most touching element. Gosling’s Grace, meanwhile, is no typical hero: The film slowly reveals that he was forced onto a deadly mission, turning his ultimate sacrifice to save Rocky’s home planet into an act of courage.

In an interview, as quoted by the Associated Press, Miller said, “People go to the movies to see a new experience,. They don’t go to see a thing they’ve already seen. Originality has value, especially as AI gets into the picture. The value that we can bring as filmmakers is to bring something that can’t be AI because it hasn’t been thought of before. So it’s good business.”

And so, you can see why fans have fallen in love.

The numbers tell a story of total global saturation:

Since the $8 billion acquisition of MGM, the industry has watched to see if the tech giant could produce a traditional blockbuster. By shattering the record previously held by Creed III, Project Hail Mary has answered with a resounding "yes." It is the first film in the studio’s history to clear the $100 million global threshold in a single weekend.

Big-budget sci-fi ($200 million) is always a high-stakes gamble, but this adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel appears to have hit the sweet spot. Critics and audiences are singing from the same page: A “Certified Fresh” 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and a coveted A on CinemaScore.

Reviewers are praising its 'faithful soul,' marveling at how it blends Weir’s signature 'science-the-heck-out-of-it” ingenuity with a heartfelt character study. With strong word-of-mouth and momentum building, the film clearly has promise of ruling the box office for a while.