By Michaela Gordoni
PROJECT HAIL MARY scored the best global debut this year for an MPA title with $140.9M worldwide.
The overall international weekend estimate is $60.4M from 82 markets, Deadline reported.
The opening weekend is up there with INTERSTELLAR and DUNE. It’s only the fourth non-franchise film to open above $50M abroad after COVID, after OPPENHEIMER, F1 and SUPERMAN.
It made $30.3 million at Imax alone, over a third of which came from China.
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“PROJECT HAIL MARY is an excellent film for which Amazon/MGM ran a brilliant campaign, leaning heavily on the power of Imax as a global launch platform across production, marketing, and distribution,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax. “Going back decades to some of our earliest documentaries, there is an enduring connection between Imax and space, and this film’s stunning depiction of the cosmos stands among the best — it truly demands to be experienced in Imax.”
Meanwhile, Disney’s HOPPERS has a $242.6M worldwide in its third week.
PROJECT HAIL MARY stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher who becomes an astronaut. He’s pressed to rely on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to solve the riddle of a mysterious substance causing Earth’s sun to die out. While on his mission, he makes an unexpected acquaintance.
Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord told Movieguide® that they wanted to make PROJECT HAIL MARY with humor and heart.
“We never understood why you couldn’t laugh and cry in the same movie,” Lord said. “Every great drama I’ve ever seen makes me laugh. Every great comedy I’ve seen makes me cry. I weirdly don’t understand why they don’t belong together.”
They believe drawing on the “human experience” is what makes a good movie.
Miller added. “We feel a lot of different things. We’re multitudes as people. And so having a movie that takes you on a journey that lets you laugh and lets you cry and lets you get excited and scared and on the edge of your seat… You come out of that movie feeling like, oh yeah, that was an experience.’”
Part of Movieguide®’s review for the movie reads, “PROJECT HAIL MARY is a terrific space adventure with lots of humor and heart. It’s a thoroughly uplifting movie with little objectionable content such as two minor references to evolution. Those mentions are counterbalanced by the movie’s Christian title and a lovely reference to God and faith midway in the story, which set the tone for PROJECT HAIL MARY’s exhilarating finish.”
You can watch the movie in theaters now.
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