However, unlike in The Martian, Gosling gets unexpected help from an alien who communicates with him in simplistic sign language and then through more advanced methods. The overall visuals and general set-up are very reminiscent of Brad Pitt in 2019’s Ad Astra, but with a lot more whimsy and more obvious stakes than in the aforementioned film.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), and written by Weir and Drew Goddard (World War Z, The Martian, The Cabin in the Woods), Project Hail Mary has the right team to make it a hit. However, the premise and trailer don’t indicate that we’ve got a The Martian-sized cross-demographic, non-sci-fi fan tentpole winner on our hands. Also, it must be said that, as likable as Gosling is, it’s become pretty obvious that he’s not box office gold as a leading man. He’s almost always better served as a second to someone else in the lead.
But let’s see, maybe Project Hail Mary is where he’ll finally break out into a bona fide compelling leading man. Matt Damon wasn’t initially considered a viable traditional lead. But over time, it was proven that Damon is just interesting to look at, or rather, it’s interesting to “watch him think,” usually about how he’s going to get out of some impossible situation. Gosling and his perma-stoic face? Not so much. We’ll see how this works out soon. The film hits theaters on March 20, 2026.
