Photo Credit; Getty Images
Ryan Gosling's sci-fi film "Project Hail Mary" has achieved a global box office debut of $140.9 million, making it the highest-grossing opening of the year so far. The movie, which stars Gosling as a science teacher tasked with preventing global extinction, also set a new record for Amazon MGM Studios with its rapid start, surpassing "Creed III." It also overtook "Scream 7" as the year's overall top seller.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also made 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie together, Project Hail Mary follows a former molecular biologist who unwittingly embarks on an important intergalactic mission.
The story is adapted from the best-selling novel by author Andy Weir, whose other book The Martian provided the inspiration for Ridley Scott's 2015 movie starring Matt Damon, which was nominated for seven Oscars.
In a statement seen by Variety, Amazon MGM's distribution boss Kevin Wilson said the novel had given them "a powerful foundation" before the directors "created a visually stunning, heart-gripping film".
He called Barbie and La La Land actor Gosling "a singular star that has the massive global appeal and charisma to anchor a story like this".
In an interview, the lead actor and producer Gosling explained the importance of bringing humour to his latest sci-fi adventure.
"That's part of the reason why I wanted to produce this film, because I felt like I needed to create an environment where these things could co-exist", he said.
Project Hail Mary ranks as the third-bigest non-sequel and non-franchise film to open above $50m overseas since the Covid pandemic, along with Oppenheimer and F1: The Movie.
Five years after it acquired MGM for $8.45bn, Amazon now looks to have its first big commercial hit on hands - as it vies for position with the other major streamers.
