Project Hail Mary’s Box Office Makes A Movie We’ve Waited 9 Years For Finally Possible

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As a huge sci-fi fan, I was thrilled to see that Project Hail Mary had a fantastic opening weekend! It’s really encouraging to see another book adaptation do so well. Everyone’s been talking about Ryan Gosling’s performance, and it seems like both critics and audiences are loving it – it’s sitting at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics and an amazing 96% with audiences! Plus, it got an A CinemaScore, which is always a good sign. It’s a great time for sci-fi movies!

Beyond the enthusiastic reviews, Project Hail Mary earned over $80.5 million in the US and $140.9 million globally during its opening weekend, making it the highest-grossing film of 2026 so far. It also marks the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie released by Amazon MGM Studios.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed the movie, which is adapted from a novel by Andy Weir. The duo are also planning to direct another adaptation of Weir’s work, but that project has been in the works for a while. Now, with the success of Project Hail Mary in theaters, that other adaptation seems more likely to happen.

Phil Lord And Christopher Miller Are Developing An Adaptation Of Artemis

Andy Weir is also the author of The Martian, which became a popular and critically acclaimed movie in 2015, directed by Ridley Scott, and was even nominated for an Academy Award. Before his next book, Artemis, was published in 2017, Fox was already planning to make it into a film, following the success of The Martian.

As reported by Deadline, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were set to direct a film adaptation of Artemis back in 2017. The science fiction novel focuses on Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara, a bright but lost young woman living in Artemis, the first city ever built on the Moon. When she takes on a major criminal job, she finds herself caught up in a plot to control the entire city.

The film has been stalled in development ever since Lord and Miller were hired to direct it. But in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Miller indicated that Artemis could still happen.

We have a fantastic script called Artemis. The biggest challenge with it for years was figuring out how to realistically show the low gravity of the moon, since the story is set there. But we believe we’ve finally found a solution, which means we can now move forward with the project.

Although NASA hasn’t completely canceled the Artemis program, according to Miller, its future isn’t certain. The recent success of Project Hail Mary might improve its chances of moving forward, though.

Project Hail Mary’s Box Office May Improve Artemis’ Chances Of Getting Made

The movie Project Hail Mary had a very strong opening weekend, bringing in over $140.9 million globally. According to Variety, the film cost around $200 million to make, meaning it needs to earn at least $500 million worldwide to become profitable. Fortunately, it’s already performing better than the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s previous book, which was also quite successful.

According to Box Office Mojo, The Martian made approximately $55 million in the US and $100.2 million globally during its opening weekend. The 2015 film ultimately earned around $630.2 million worldwide.

While Project Hail Mary might not earn as much as The Martian, its strong start demonstrates that Andy Weir’s books translate well to the big screen – critics and audiences enjoy them, and they perform well financially. With Lord and Miller already on board to direct, there’s renewed hope that Artemis will also be made into a successful film.

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2026-03-25 23:02