Motivational
22 Jul, 2025
Abigail White
You wake up, alone, on a ship in the middle of space. Where are you? What are you doing there? Are you forgetting something important? Something like, maybe, the fate of the world is in your hands?That’s the situationRyan Gosling finds himself in inProject Hail Mary,the new film from directorsPhil Lord and Chris Miller, and the first trailer is here.
Set for release March 20, 2026,Project Hail Maryis based on a book byThe Martianauthor, Andy Weir. It’s about a professor on a space mission who wakes up with temporary amnesia. Slowly he remembers that he’s on a mission that, if unsuccessful, would mean the end of the world as we know it. So he doesn’t feel fine. Check out the trailer.
There’s so much awesome to go around here, but the first is thatProject Hail Mary is the long-awaited return to the director’s chair for Lord and Miller. It’s been almost 10 years since the team behind21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie,andCloudy With a Chance of Meatballsdirected a feature film,though not for lack of trying,and we’ve missed them. They’ve been circling Weir’s works for a while, so we have every confidence that they know how to tackle this complex story.
And it is complex. The trailer begins to touch on it, butProject Hail Maryhas much, much more going on than meets the eye. For one thing, it’s a super nerdy science story a laThe Martianabout someone trying to survive on brainpower in space. But it goes beyond that too, especially when Gosling’s character encounters another ship.
If you want to know more about the story, we reviewed the bookback in 2021 and dive more into it there. But, hopefully, this trailer gets you interested enough that you are just circling March 20, 2026, on your calendar to see what Ryan Gosling and the crew have in store withProject Hail Mary.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latestMarvel,Star Wars, andStar Trekreleases, what’s next for theDC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future ofDoctor Who.
Chris MillerPhil LordProject Hail MaryRyan Gosling
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