‘Project Hail Mary’ becomes Amazon MGM’s biggest box office hit

Amazon’s stake connected “Project Hail Mary” has paid disconnected handsomely, with the movie precocious surpassing “Creed III” to go the company’s highest grossing movie ever.

And it was a large bet, with a reported fund of around $200 million. That’s a large terms tag for immoderate film, but particularly 1 that’s not a sequel oregon portion of an existing franchise. Instead, it’s based connected a bestselling subject fabrication caller by Andy Weir, whose publication “The Martian” was adapted into a palmy movie a decennary ago. 

And that’s not the lone happening that makes “Project Hail Mary” consciousness unconventional. For agelong stretches of the film, Ryan Gosling is the lone quality histrion connected screen, arsenic the idiosyncratic helium plays works with a rock-like alien to lick the enigma of of wherefore aggregate stars — including our ain — look to beryllium dimming.

But aft 10 days successful theaters, “Project Hail Mary” has brought successful an estimated $164.3 cardinal successful North America, arsenic good arsenic $136.2 cardinal overseas, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Domestically, it lone fell 32% successful its 2nd weekend, to $54.5 million, truthful its last container bureau numbers should beryllium importantly higher erstwhile it leaves theaters.

That makes “Project Hail Mary” the biggest deed of 2026 (so far), arsenic good arsenic 1 of the astir palmy non-franchise, non-sequel films of the past decade. 

And it’s bully quality for what’s present known arsenic Amazon MGM Studios. The company’s cinematic ambitions person evolved implicit time, from distributing smaller, critically acclaimed titles similar “The Big Sick” and “Manchester by the Sea” to much precocious acquiring movie workplace MGM (leading to a conflict for power of the James Bond franchise) and declaring its volition to bring 14 movies into theaters each year.

Until “Hail Mary,” those movies — including “After the Hunt,” “Mercy,” and the arguable “Melania” documentary — seemed to beryllium falling level with audiences.

Amazon’s caput of movie Courtenay Valenti told The New York Times that “Project Hail Mary”‘s large opening play validated the company’s strategy of making “big, bold entertaining commercialized films.” And it has much movies coming to theaters soon, including “The Sheep Detectives” starring Hugh Jackman successful May, past a “Masters of the Universe” reboot successful June.