Project Hail Mary Movie: Cast, Reviews, Box Office and Where to Stream

Ryan Gosling and a rock-shaped alien named Rocky turned Andy Weir’s novel into Amazon MGM’s biggest hit.

By EuroFilm Editorial · October 23, 2026 · 6 min read

Andy Weir already had one hit adaptation with The Martian. Project Hail Mary, based on his 2021 novel, did even better: it opened to $80.6 million in North America in March 2026, held remarkably well in its second weekend and became the biggest film Amazon MGM Studios has released.

What is Project Hail Mary about?

Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. He slowly works out that he is the only surviving member of a three-person crew sent to the Tau Ceti system, nearly 12 light-years from Earth, on a last-chance mission to save the Sun, and humanity, from a star-dimming microbe. Then he discovers he is not the only one out there.

Project Hail Mary cast

Ryan Gosling plays Grace, a molecular biologist turned middle-school science teacher. Sandra Hüller plays Eva Stratt, the hard-nosed head of the international task force that built the mission. The breakout is Rocky, an alien engineer performed, voiced and puppeteered by James Ortiz; the decision to build Rocky as a physical puppet rather than a purely digital effect is a big part of why the character works. Lionel Boyce appears as security officer Carl.

What critics said

Critics were overwhelmingly positive: 95% on Rotten Tomatoes from 430 reviews and 77 on Metacritic, with audiences giving it an A CinemaScore. The praise centres on Gosling, on Rocky, on the humour and on the film’s visuals. A minority of reviewers found it too familiar, a patchwork of earlier space films, and a few noted slow stretches in the long runtime.

Box office and awards

The film grossed about $344 million in North America and roughly $684 million worldwide, making it one of the ten biggest releases of 2026. It has already picked up genre awards, including Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie and Best Actor for Gosling at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards.

Where to stream Project Hail Mary

It is streaming on Prime Video, where it arrived on July 3, 2026, after a run on MGM+. You can also buy it digitally or on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD. For more science fiction, see our top rated movies list.

Is Project Hail Mary worth watching?

Yes. It is the most crowd-pleasing original science-fiction film in years: clever without being cold, and genuinely funny. If you liked The Martian, this is an easy recommendation. Fans of big-screen spectacle should also read our guide to The Odyssey.