Project Hail Mary, an adaptation of the science fiction novel of the same name from The Martian writer Andy Weir, is set to be released on March 20, 2026, but Amazon MGM Studios has already shared a full trailer for the film. Rather than mostly focusing on Matt Damon growing potatoes on Mars, the movie from 21 Jump Street directors and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller stars Ryan Gosling as a sixth-grade science teacher sent to space to save the Earth.
Like The Martian’s hero Mark Watney, Gosling’s Ryland Grace gets knocked out, wakes up alone, and has to use his wits, good humor, and knowledge of biology to survive outer space. But a lot more is at stake in Project Hail Mary, where an unexplained phenomenon is dimming the Earth’s sun, endangering all life on Earth. Despite his lack of experience and general disinterest in going into space, Grace winds up on a mission to travel 11.9 light years from Earth and try to figure out what’s going on and save the world. It’s not all bad, though, as he gets to meet an alien he dubs Rocky.
Screenwriter Drew Goddard also authored the adaptation of The Martian, so he has plenty of experience translating Weir’s wry humor and highly technical brand of sci-fi into an entertaining feature film. It helps that, like Damon, Gosling has the star power to handle a lot of solo scenes involving the practicalities of life in space.
