Ryan Gosling’s Stellar Sci-Fi Blockbuster Officially Blows Past 'The Martian' in Box Office Debut

9 hours ago 4

Ryland Grace floating through zero gravity in a space suit.

Published Mar 21, 2026, 10:39 AM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

There was a very real danger of history repeating itself for Ryan Gosling this year, but he seems to have avoided it with trademark charm and plenty of razzle-dazzle. A couple of years ago, he starred alongside Emily Blunt in the action-comedy film The Fall Guy, which was given the responsibility of kicking off the summer movie season in 2024. The movie premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, followed by a weeks-long marketing blitz highlighting its excellent reviews. Everyone expected the buzz to reach a crescendo by release day and for the movie to post a massive win at the box office. But that didn't happen; The Fall Guy underperformed in its opening weekend, grossing only $28 million. Gosling found himself in a similar position this year, with his new movie earning even better reactions in the run-up to its release this week. But unlike The Fall Guy, Gosling's new movie, Project Hail Mary, is blowing past box-office projections.

The movie marks the directorial comeback of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who haven't made a movie in over a decade; their last release was 22 Jump Street. Lord and Miller also worked on Solo: A Star Wars Story, but were replaced by Ron Howard after completing a significant amount of production. Project Hail Mary serves as something of a spiritual follow-up to The Martian, starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott. That film grossed more than $600 million worldwide in 2015, and was also based on a book by Andy Weir and written by Drew Goddard.

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Here's How Much 'Project Hail Mary' Is Expected to Gross this Weekend

Project Hail Mary is currently projected to gross more than $75 million in its opening weekend, which is far higher than the $50 million to $60 million range that most prognosticators had put it in. A $75 million-plus haul would put the movie above not only The Martian's $54 million debut, but also the $49 million that Interstellar grossed in its extended opening in 2014. Produced on a reported budget of $190 million, Project Hail Mary is set to deliver the biggest opening in Amazon MGM's history, and one of the best openings ever for a non-franchise title. If some of the more bullish projections come true, it could even challenge Dune: Part Two's $82 million opening weekend haul. The movie has not only earned the best reviews of Lord and Miller's career, but also Gosling's — this is saying something, considering how well-received some of their best films have been. It holds a "Certified Fresh" 95% critics' score and a "Verified Hot" 97% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the 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." Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.