As the title of this article alludes to, there are going to be some major spoilers ahead for the third act and the ending of “Project Hail Mary.” So, with that in mind, if you continue to read, you may ruin your experience; that’s if you haven’t already watched the popular sci-fi survival flick that has amassed an impressive $317 million at the global box office.
The book’s author, Andy Weir, has explained to The New York Times his reasoning for the fate of Dr. Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling) at the end of the story. Instead of going directly back to Earth and completing his journey, Grace decides to save his new alien engineer pal Rocky from a painful and deadly fate, leading to him staying on Rocky’s planet, Erid, and teaching young Eridrians science for an extended period of time.
“I knew that was going to be the end of the novel before I started writing the first page. I didn’t know all those steps that would get him there, but that’s how it was going to end,” Weir said when asked if he always planned to end the book in the way he did.
How Weir explains things, Grace really doesn’t have much to look forward to on Earth, and this could be why the scientist/school teacher decides on the extended stay on Erid.
“I think it’s a perfect ending for Ryland because he really liked being a teacher, and in the end, he gets to be a teacher and hang out with his best friend. And he’d be returning to an Earth where something like 75 years had passed since he left. Everyone he knows back on Earth will have died. He doesn’t really have anything to go back to. But he’s got his best friend here. A job that he loves. Why would he leave?”
While the ending leaves a door open for Grace to return to Earth (hard to know for sure what that version of the planet would look like once he returns, 75 years is a long time), we don’t exactly know if Weir and screenwriter Drew Goddard (alongside directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller) are going to collaborate on a sequel story/script or simply leave “Project Hail Mary” as a one-and-done standalone film (this being the biggest box office effort from Amazon MGM Studios, we assume there will be offers made).
Whatever happens, we surely hope that Goddard and Lord/Miller find another project to reunite them creatively in the future, regardless of whether that is a hypothetical “Project Hail Mary” sequel or something completely different/original.
You can watch that exchange with Weir on the “Project Hail Mary” ending below.
- Christopher Marc
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