Project Hail Mary is underway, with a trailer released on Monday along with a release date — March 20, 2026. The new sci-fi epic is an adaptation of a novel by Andy Weir, the author who wrote The Martian, along with a few other novels and stories. The film adaptation stars Ryan Gosling as a sixth-grade science teacher named Ryland Grace, who is chosen for a mission to save the earth and humanity from a cosmic catastrophe. It was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind the Spider-Verse movies, among other hits. Weir’s novel has been a massive hit among sci-fi fans, and fans are anticipating another instant classic when the movie is released.
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Project Hail Mary is set in the near future, when astronomers begin to observe an alarming new trend they call “global dimming.” It is progressing at an exponential rate, and will cast the earth into an ice age causing the extinction of humanity within 30 years. The European Space Agency discovers that the sun is producing less light, while a line of alien microbes stretches between the sun and Venus. They send for Ryland Grace, who is working as a passion middle school teacher, but is actually an expert molecular biologist. With his help, they discover that these alien microbes can be bred to create a renewable source of rocket fuel.
The ESA discovers that other stars close to earth are dimming as well, likely due to the same alien microbes. The only exception is the star Tau Ceti, and the scientists determine that their best hope of saving the earth is to send a starship there to determine why it is resistant to the dimming, and try to replicate it at home. Ryland is essential to the mission, but as you can see in the trailer, he is not enthusiastic about it at all.
Project Hail Mary was published in 2021, and was lauded by critics as a worthy follow-up to The Martian. It won several awards and was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for best novel. The film rights to the book were sold before it had even been published. They were first purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which has since been acquired and re-branded into Amazon MGM Studios.
Gosling signed onto the movie early, as did screenwriter Drew Goddard and directors Lord and Miller. The movie filmed in last summer in the U.K., and maintained its planned release date without a hitch. Ryland’s mission did not go that smoothly in the book, and it looks like it won’t be any easier on the big screen. Project Hail Mary premieres on March 20, 2026 in theaters. Weir’s novel is available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
