Ryan Gosling’s Project Hail Mary Soars to No. 1 at the Box Office With Best 2026 Global Debut

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The new sci-fi film premiered in theaters on March 20th and is already proving to be a huge success.

The new sci-fi movie, Project Hail Mary, topped the global box office charts during its opening weekend. It exceeded expectations, earning an impressive $80.6 million in the U.S. and a total of $141 million worldwide – the highest opening weekend numbers of any film this year.

Project Hail Mary Suprassed The Martian’s Opening Numbers

With its massive opening, Project Hail Mary has earned more than the debut of Paramount and Spyglass’ previous film, which opened with $97 million at the end of February.

This weekend, Project Hail Mary easily topped the box office, facing no strong competition from either existing films or new releases. Another new film, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, opened with just $9.1 million domestically and landed in fourth place.

Pixar’s Hoppers continued its success, earning another $18 million domestically, bringing its total to $120.3 million. Worldwide, the film has now grossed $240 million, exceeding its $150 million production budget. Dhurandhar: The Revenge came in third place with $13.5 million in earnings.

I’m really excited about Project Hail Mary – it looks amazing! But I’ve been reading that even if it does well, it has a long way to go before it actually makes money for Amazon MGM Studios. The filmmakers, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, really went all out with practical effects and sets, which meant a huge budget – around $200 million. To just break even, it needs to make around $500 million worldwide, and it needs to earn over $600 million to actually be considered a profitable movie.

The beginning of Project Hail Mary is stronger than the start of The Martian, which it follows as another story from author Andy Weir and with the same screenwriter. Both involve a person stranded in space. The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott in 2015, earned $54.3 million in the US and a total of $228.4 million worldwide, and $630.6 million worldwide when not adjusted for inflation.

All of Project Hail Mary’s Records So Far

This sci-fi film is a huge success for Amazon MGM Studios, marking their first major blockbuster. Starring Ryan Gosling, the movie had a remarkable opening weekend, achieving the highest March debut for a non-sequel film, surpassing Jordan Peele’s Us with $71 million. It also landed as the second-highest opening weekend ever for a movie not part of an existing franchise, trailing only Oppenheimer‘s $82.4 million debut.

The film had the biggest opening weekend ever for Amazon MGM Studios, surpassing the $58 million debut of Creed III. For Ryan Gosling, it was his second-highest opening weekend, following the $162 million launch of Barbie in 2023.

The film became Ryan Gosling’s most critically and popularly acclaimed project, earning a 96% rating from critics and a similar score from audiences. It’s also been designated ‘Certified Fresh’ and ‘Verified Hot’.

Kevin Wilson, head of domestic theatrical distribution at Amazon MGM Studios, expressed excitement about the positive response to Hail Mary. He said the audience reaction – the energy in theaters, high scores from viewers leaving the cinema, and positive word-of-mouth – confirms their confidence in the film’s success.

Project Hail Mary is currently playing in theaters.

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2026-03-22 20:07