Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi epic “Project Hail Mary” lived up to its name, collecting a stellar $80.5 million in its box office launch to deliver a much-needed theatrical win for Amazon MGM.
This marks the studio’s biggest opening ever, shattering the record set by 2023’s “Creed III” with $58 million. It’s also the largest debut of the year above February’s slasher sequel “Scream 7” with $63 million. Heading into the weekend, “Project Hail Mary” was projected to earn $65 million or more at the domestic box office; excellent reviews and positive word-of-mouth helped to propel initial ticket sales even higher.
“We believe deeply in the Hail Mary, and it’s clear audiences do as well,” says Amazon MGM’s distribution chief Kevin Wilson. “What we’re seeing in theaters — the energy, the exit scores, the word of mouth — is everything we believed this film would deliver.”
“Project Hail Mary,” adapted from “The Martian” author Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, cost $200 million to produce and many millions more to market. Since theater owners get to keep about half of ticket sales, Amazon MGM needs the movie to stick around beyond its debut to justify the price tag. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“21 Jump Street,” “The Lego Movie”) directed the film, which follows a scientist who embarks on an intergalactic mission to save the planet from extinction. It holds a stellar 95% average on Rotten Tomatoes and earned an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls.
“This is Amazon MGM’s first big hit,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “What makes the story work is the balance of science fiction and humanity. ‘The Martian’ had similar heart, and it’s working again.”
“Project Hail Mary” comes at a pivotal time for Amazon. This is the studio’s first year with a full theatrical slate (13 films are scheduled for 2026) since the e-commerce giant MGM for $8 billion in 2022. So far, the company’s foray into theatrical has been rocky. January’s first lady doc “Melania” generated $16 million, impressive for the genre, but tragic against a $40 million price tag. Then, February’s R-rated caper “Crime 101″ grossed just $65 million against a $90 million budget. So there was pressure on “Project Hail Mary” to become a crowd-pleasing hit and change the narrative around the company’s movie efforts. Amazon’s next major release is June’s toy adaptation “Masters of the Universe,” which will try to build on the success of “Project Hail Mary.”
This weekend’s other newcomer, Disney and Searchlight’s horror sequel “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” opened in fourth place with $9 million from 3,010 North American theaters. Those ticket sales were slightly below expectations and arrived just ahead of 2019’s “Ready or Not,” which debuted to $8 million. “Ready or Not 2” started slow overseas with $2.8 million from 21 territories for a global launch of $11.9 million. The follow-up film, starring Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton as sisters who attempt to survive a diabolical game of hide-and-seek, carries a $20 million price tag.
Disney’s Pixar adventure “Hoppers” slid to second place after two weekends at No. 1. The kid-friendly film added $18 million, bringing ticket sales to $120.4 million domestically and $242 million globally after three weekends of release. “Hoppers” is snapping a cold streak for Pixar, which has scored with sequels such as “Inside Out 2” but hasn’t fielded an original hit since 2017’s “Coco.”
More to come…
Leave a Reply