All of these successes came at considerable expense. \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d based on the Andy Weir bestseller, cost close to $200 million to make. But its $80.5 million debut vindicated Amazon MGM\u2019s big bet, and gave the studio its largest box-office hit yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made a tremendous investment and it\u2019s going to pay off,\u201d Lord said in an interview alongside Miller last week. \u201cHow exciting to reward the people that took a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d despite its title, isn\u2019t anyone\u2019s idea of a long shot. It stars one of the most widely liked actors in Ryan Gosling. Its source material, Weir\u2019s novel, is beloved. And it trades on much of the same science-first sci-fi appeal of 2015\u2019s best picture-nominated \u201cThe Martian,\u201d from an earlier book by Weir. Lord and Miller, the filmmakers of the \u201cSpider-Verse\u201d movies<\/a> and \u201cThe Lego Movie,\u201d have a long track record of success with both audiences and critics. <\/p>\n But the recent run for originality \u2014 at the Oscars and the multiplex \u2014 suggests audiences may be more eager for something different from the same old. At the least, the potentially cascading rewards of an original hit are freshly apparent at a time when a lot of big bets \u2014 like the $130 million-plus that Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s best picture winner \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d cost Warner Bros. to make \u2014 have paid off so massively.<\/p>\n Ryan Gosling didn\u2019t set off on his latest space odyssey in just a boring astronaut suit. The 45-year-old star of \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d credits his kids \u2014 and inspiration from Val Kilmer \u2014 for his stylish astro-nerd look in the sci-fi film. He sat down at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to speak with AP entertainment journalist Leslie Ambriz alongside co-star Sandra H\u00fcller, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, writer Drew Goddard and book author Andy Weir. In the movie, opening Friday in U.S. theatres, Gosling portrays a science teacher sent on a mission to save Earth from a dying sun. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople go to the movies to see a new experience,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey don\u2019t go to see a thing they\u2019ve already seen. Originality has value, especially as AI gets into the picture. The value that we can bring as filmmakers is to bring something that can\u2019t be AI because it hasn\u2019t been thought of before.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s good business.\u201d<\/p>\n Franchise domination<\/p>\n Franchises have hardly been displaced. They will, no doubt, largely control the box office for the rest of year, beginning with Universal\u2019s \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie\u201d next month, followed by anticipated releases like \u201cToy Story 5,\u201d \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d and \u201cDune: Part Three.\u201d Last week, the 11th \u201cSpider-Man\u201d movie this century, Sony Pictures\u2019 \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day,\u201d set a new trailer record with 718.6 million views in its first 24 hours.<\/p>\n So, yes, franchises still very much rule the day. But waves upon waves of sequels, reboots and remakes have made the few big-budget originals that manage to get made all the more singular.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Phil Lord, left, and Chris Miller pose for a portrait to promote \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n Phil Lord, left, and Chris Miller pose for a portrait to promote \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t continue to do originals, we\u2019re going to run out of stuff,\u201d Pete Docter, Pixar chief creative officer, earlier told The Los Angeles Times.<\/p>\n Since its founding, Pixar has clung to a belief that original movies are part of its mission, though that quest has grown more arduous in recent years. During the pandemic, \u201cSoul,\u201d \u201cLuca\u201d and \u201cTurning Red\u201d were diverted to Disney+. \u201cElemental\u201d seemed like a disappointment at first but it just needed time to catch hold, eventually collecting $496 million.<\/p>\n \u201cHoppers,\u201d directed by Daniel Chong, is hoping to follow that trajectory. So far, in three weeks of release, it\u2019s grossed $242.6 million worldwide for The Walt Disney Co. \u2014 good business, to be sure, but a far cry from the pace of the 2024 blockbuster sequel \u201cInside Out 2.\u201d It grossed $1.7 billion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows Ryan Gosling in a scene from \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d (Jonathan Olley\/Amazon MGM Studios via AP)<\/p>\n This image released by Amazon MGM Studios shows Ryan Gosling in a scene from \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d (Jonathan Olley\/Amazon MGM Studios via AP)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Such economics are tough for original movies to compete with, plus non-franchise films take more effort, and money, to market. For a $200 million movie, marketing costs can come to nearly rival production budgets. <\/p>\n Though some of Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s showmanship<\/a>, complete with a blimp and a trip to the Sphere, might have cost him an Oscar<\/a>, his promotional efforts were surely necessary to help lift \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d<\/a> A24\u2019s most expensive movie ever \u2014 with a budget of $70 million \u2014 to $179.3 million in ticket sales.<\/p>\n An ambitious marketing campaign also accompanied \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d Gosling was everywhere from hosting \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d to doing the \u201cLa La Land\u201d dance<\/a> with his alien co-star, Rocky. But the movie always rested on the appeal of the comic sensibilities of its filmmakers, Weir\u2019s book and Gosling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all united by the fact that we\u2019ve spent the last two decades having people ask us: What genre is this?\u201d says Drew Goddard, who scripted both \u201cThe Martian\u201d and \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re constantly hard to classify because we love existing in those strange places. We like drama, we like comedy. We like heartbreak, we like terror. We like silliness.\u201d<\/p>\n Streaming economics change the calculus<\/p>\n In matching broad-appeal material with the right filmmakers and stars, \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d relied on not just old-school studio moviemaking but the sometimes overlooked lessons of \u201cBarbenheimer.\u201d<\/a> Both Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cOppenheimer\u201d and Greta Gerwig\u2019s \u201cBarbie\u201d showed what can happen when the right filmmakers are given free rein on a big canvas. There is a definite downside, though. Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cThe Bride!\u201d<\/a> by Maggie Gyllenhaal seemed like a compelling, filmmaker-driven concept but its losses might approach $100 million. <\/p>\n Aside from having Gosling in common, \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d also shared the producer of \u201cBarbie\u201d in Amy Pascal. Before the studio\u2019s acquisition by Amazon, it was greenlit by then-MGM chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. They later moved on to Warner Bros., where they made both \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d and Ryan Coogler\u2019s much-celebrated \u201cSinners\u201d ($370 million in ticket sales against a budget of $90 million). <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael B. Jordan, left, winner of the award for actor in a leading role for \u201cSinners,\u201d and Ryan Coogler, winner of the award for writing (original screenplay) for \u201cSinners,\u201d pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n Michael B. Jordan, left, winner of the award for actor in a leading role for \u201cSinners,\u201d and Ryan Coogler, winner of the award for writing (original screenplay) for \u201cSinners,\u201d pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n As much as Amazon\u2019s $8.5 billion purchase of MGM was motivated by capturing some of the richest IP in movies, James Bond, it\u2019s also true that studios can establish themselves with homegrown hits. The opening for \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d was Amazon MGM\u2019s biggest ever.<\/p>\n In fact, three of the biggest original hits of the past year have come from streaming companies: Apple with \u201cF1,\u201d<\/a> Netflix with \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d<\/a> and Amazon with \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d For these studios, box-office performance is only part of the win; Netflix didn\u2019t even publicly record the chart-topping theatrical weekend of \u201cKPop Demon Hunters.\u201d <\/p>\n These companies are sometimes willing to take greater risks because breaking even in theatrical isn\u2019t the end-all-be-all goal. Driving attention to their streaming platforms is just as vital. \u201cKPop\u201d was developed and produced by Sony Pictures, but, sensing the potentially perilous road to opening it theatrically, the company sold it to Netflix. There, it became the streamer\u2019s most-watched movie ever. <\/p>\n![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774395973_146_.jpeg\")
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