It looks like Ryan Gosling is going back to space. Deadline reports that the “Barbie” and “The Fall Guy” actor will star in Phil Lord & Christopher Miller‘s upcoming adaptation of “Project Hail Mary” at Amazon MGM. And if Lord & Miller’s film is anything like Hollywood’s last Andy Weir adaptation, 2015’s “The Martian,” then “Project Hail Mary” will be a homerun for all involved.
A finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel (the publishing industry’s most esteemed sci-fi/fantasy award), “Project Hail Mary” bears some similarity to “The Martian”: a man trapped in space by himself racing against a ticking clock. But that’s where the resemblance ends. In the film, Gosling will play Ryland Grace, a schoolteacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up from a coma on a space station with no recollection of who he is, how he got there, and his reason for being there. As his memory gradually returns, he discovers he’s on a mission to save Earth from a space event that’s already plunging the planet into a new Ice Age. Will Ryland remember all of his scientific training in time to save the day, and will he have to do it alone?
Gosling is the only actor signed on to “Project Hail Mary” right now, but except this movie to be predominately a one-man showcase for the actor. And it’ll be a lot different than the last time Gosling headed into outer space, which was as Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle‘s 2018 film “First Man.” Producers on the film include Amy Pascal, Aditya Sood, Rachel O’Connor, Gosling, Lord, Miller, and Weir. Drew Goddard, who adapted “The Martian,” returns to adapt Weir’s latest novel. He also executive produces through Goddard Textiles with his partner Sara Esberg and Ken Kao.
Excited for “Project Hail Mary”? Well, you’ll have to wait a while: Amazon MGM currently slates the film for a March 20, 2026 theatrical release. It’s not up against anything else, but remember, that’s two years away: expect Warner Bros. or another major studio to have a tentpole ready to face off against this Gosling vehicle by then.
