Having completed another successful weekend at the box office, Project Hail Mary is on the path to the $600 million milestone worldwide. The sci-fi blockbuster reportedly cost more than $200 million to produce and likely millions more to market. But it’s already being seen as a major win for Amazon MGM Studios, and it’ll likely benefit from a recently announced delay to its Prime Video release. Project Hail Mary is based on a bestseller by Andy Weir, who also wrote the novel that inspired The Martian. That film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, grossed $630 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $110 million. However, this was back in 2015, when Hollywood could still count on Russia and China for significant revenue.
That said, the new film has cemented itself as a rare blockbuster that could also do well during the awards season. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie stars Ryan Gosling as a scientist-turned-schoolteacher who is sent on a dangerous intergalactic mission to save the world. Project Hail Mary opened to widespread acclaim and is now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 94% critics’ score and a “Verified Hot” 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website’s consensus reads, “A visually dazzling space odyssey that’s carried along effortlessly by the gravitational pull of Ryan Gosling at his most winning, Project Hail Mary is a near-miraculous fusion of smarts and heart.”