Ryan Gosling’s Project Hail Mary is now closing in on DC’s Superman. The Amazon MGM Studios release has crossed $600 million worldwide and is set to overtake the comic-book film’s $618.7 million in the coming days, a tidy reminder that star power plus a strong sci-fi hook can still go toe to toe with superheroes.
The movie has pulled in $305.4 million in North America and $308 million overseas. Released on 20 March 2026 in 4,007 theaters, it currently sits third among the highest-grossing films of 2026, which is not bad company for a movie about a science teacher sent on an interstellar mission to save stars from parasites. Hollywood keeps pretending original-ish sci-fi is a risky bet; then a movie like this shows up and starts eating franchise lunch.
Project Hail Mary box office by the numbers
- Worldwide gross: more than $600 million
- North America: $305.4 million
- International: $308 million
- Opening footprint: 4,007 theaters
- Runtime: 2 hours 36 minutes
Why the film cleared its break-even bar
The film’s budget, excluding marketing, topped $200 million, so the reported theatrical target for profitability was at least $500 million to $550 million. That makes this run more than a vanity victory: it gives Amazon MGM Studios a rare big-screen success at a time when even hefty IP can wobble if audiences sense homework instead of entertainment.
There’s also a neat industry wrinkle here. Adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 novel, the movie has done what studios love and fear in equal measure: it turned a relatively bookish premise into a broad commercial event without leaning on capes, sequels, or multiverse seasoning.
Critical and audience reception stayed strong
The reception has been unusually healthy for a film this expensive. Rotten Tomatoes lists 94% positive reviews from 393 critics, Metacritic gives it 77 out of 100, and CinemaScore audiences handed it an ”A”. In plain English: people did not just show up once; they seem to have liked what they saw.
Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a science teacher who is dragged into a mission to save the stars from a parasitic threat. If the movie does edge past Superman as expected, the bigger question is whether studios take the right lesson: that a clearly pitched, well-reviewed science-fiction film can still outperform a lot of expensive noise. Funny how that keeps surprising them.