Ryan Gosling’s second big trip to outer space, after “First Man,” broke new ground for Amazon — and the domestic box office.

*Project Hail Mary *blasts off to a record-breaking $80 million, becomes 2026’s biggest box office premiere

Ryan Gosling's second big trip to outer space, after "First Man," broke new ground for Amazon — and the domestic box office.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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March 22, 2026 7:30 p.m. ET

Ryan Gosling in 'Project Hail Mary'. Credit:

Jonathan Olley/Amazon MGM Studios

- *Project Hail Mary *blasted off to the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend.

- The Ryan Gosling space odyssey's $80 million domestically and $141 million globally makes it the biggest premiere of 2026 so far, and the biggest for Amazon MGM Studios.

- Pixar's *Hoppers *still leads in overall gross, but *Hail Mary *is poised to become the year's biggest earner so far, even as it faces down competition from *Forbidden Fruits *and *They Will Kill You *next week.

One small step for Ryan Gosling, one giant leap for the domestic box office.

The Canadian movie star's latest big swing, glossy space odyssey *Project Hail Mary*, burned through the outer layer of box office projections this weekend for a dazzling $80 million domestic premiere, and $60.4 million abroad, per Comscore.

Directed by the *Spider-Verse *producing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, based on the novel by *The Martian *author Andy Weir, and adapted by Oscar-nominated *Buffy*, *Cloverfield*, and *Cabin in the Woods *scribe Drew Goddard, *Project Hail Mary *was shaped by crew of competent hands. The industry had great expectations of the film: *Project* *Hail Mary* was budgeted at an estimated $200 million and was projected to have a $100 million worldwide premiere.

But it has flown far past that figure with a nearly $141 million take worldwide, becoming the biggest domestic premiere of 2026 and the best yet for Amazon MGM Studios.

Still from 'Hoppers'.

After just three days in theaters, *Hail Mary* is already the No. 7 highest grossing film of 2026 so far. But two films in that top five, *Avatar: Fire and Ash *and *Zootopia 2*,* *can already be knocked off the list as they both opened in late 2025.

*Project Hail Mary*'s competition then stands at *Wuthering Heights*, which in five weeks has grossed just $3 million more than *Hail Mary *earned in three days; Steph Curry's animated sports flick *GOAT*, which has hit the tail end of its hot streak at the box office; *Scream 7*, which did set a franchise premiere record, but is likely to cap out domestically around $120 million; and finally, *Hail Mary*'s ultimate competitor, *Hoppers.*

Pixar's adorable talking-animals animated offering could not beat *Scream 7*'s record-setting opening of $64 million, the previous best of 2026. But it has surpassed all others in leaping to $120 million overall. It came in at No. 2 domestically this weekend with $18 million, and No. 3 abroad with $55.2 million, following the $81 million premiere of the Hindi spy thriller *Dhurandhar: The Revenge.*

But nothing could beat *Project Hail Mary*'s global total of $141 million, although it's still a long ways out from the $242.5 million *Hoppers *has amassed in three weeks.

'Hoppers' leaps to easy victory over 'Reminders of Him' and 'Undertone' at Oscars weekend box office

How Meryl Streep ended up making a surprise cameo in this small, strange 'Project Hail Mary' role

Amid all this success, a sour note. *Ready or Not 2: Here I Come*, which followed from the critically acclaimed 2019 horror comedy starring Samara Weaving, could not scare audiences in sufficient numbers back to theaters in its premiere weekend.

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The sequel from original directing team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett added Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Cronenberg, and Elijah Wood to the cast, but only earned $9.1 million domestically, and a meager $11.9 million abroad. That is over a $14 million estimated budget, however, which the film is likely to at least recoup, even factoring in unreported marketing and promotional expenses.

Those figures earned the film the No. 4 spot domestically and No. 5 globally. Elsewhere, A24's *Undertone *continues to pull in modest crowds, given its estimated $500,000 budget. The podcasting mystery earned the No. 8 spot domestically with a $3 million week 2 gross, just below *GOAT*, which earned $3.5 million in week 6.

Gosling and his interstellar comrades, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, and Lionel Boyce, don't face any imminent threats at the box office next week.

*Project Hail Mary* achieved a firm lead on *GOAT*, *Hoppers*, *Scream 7*, and the like in its premiere. Next week's slate of new premieres doesn't include any obvious hits — at least that hold the promise of achieving a Hail Mary against Gosling's space film.

Two cult-based horror-comedies will try, however: Lili Reinhardt, Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp aim to add a fresh entry to the canon of fearsome female foursomes — alongside *Set It Off *and *D.E.B.S.* — with* Forbidden Fruits*. The film, about a witch cult, is slated to premiere beside demonic-cult movie, *They Will Kill You*, starring Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, and *Harry Potter *alum Tom Felton — but the two cult comedies may cancel each other out.

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