Project Hail Mary lightspeeds to over $11 million in Thursday night previews

Hail Mary

The hype around Project Hail Mary may not be Avengers levels, but it was high enough, with enough good buzz, that it was hardly a Hail Mary for the studio, and, so far, this week, it’s more like a lob pass to the end zone for a sure score. This is a pretty nice moment for a property that hasn’t been pre-established as a franchise. Deadline is reporting that early Thursday previews have rocketed to over $11 million at the box office.

Full of Grace

Although there had been some sure things that surprisingly underperformed in recent years, Project Hail Mary was already a much-loved, best-selling novel. Excitement would only grow when the film boasted Drew Goddard adapting the book to the screen and the directors of the Spider-Verse films would be helming the project. This early preview total is reportedly the best to date for a non-franchise title. It beat out Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which brought in $10.5 million, F1, which pulled in $10 million, Weapons, which opened with a $5.7 million and another awards darling, Sinners, which garnered $4.7 million in early preview gross.

Phil Lord is with thee

The film is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with Amy Pascal, Gosling, Lord, Miller, Aditya Sood, Rachel O’Connor and Andy Weir all on board as producers of the film. Drew Goddard wrote the adapted screenplay based on the Andy Weir novel. Weir had also written the novel for The Martian, which served as source material for the Matt Damon film of the same name. Goddard is also set to executive produce with his Goddard Textiles partner Sarah Esberg, along with Ken Kao.

Project Hail Mary was filmed for IMAX. Gosling is joined by Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung and Milana Vayntrub. The synopsis reads, “Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.” 

The post Project Hail Mary lightspeeds to over $11 million in Thursday night previews appeared first on JoBlo.