Ryan Gosling Takes on a Galactic Mission in Project Hail Mary

In 2015, moviegoers were first introduced to The Martian, the dramatic, witty, and, yes, surprisingly emotional adaptation of Andy Weir’s international best-selling novel of the same name. Directed by Ridley Scott and featuring Matt Damon as protagonist Mark Watney, the film adaptation was both a critical and commercial success, as well as a contender for various awards. A new film adaptation of Weir’s work is in the works, as well. Recently, the trailer for the movie version of Weir’s 2021 bestseller Project Hail Mary was released, and it shows every indication of tapping into the same mix of science and survival as the studio’s previous hit.

The teaser is much more than just a few seconds set to a musical score. The very first frame of the official Project Hail Mary trailer was well-designed and plotted out, as was the music that plays from beginning to end. The action seems to start in one place only to take a sharp left turn, as it were. It’s another summer sci-fi blockbuster movie featuring world-class special effects and considerable space action. Moreover, the film’s extensive list of high-quality talent and financial resources should give audiences some hope that the film’s exploration of intergalactic travel will rise above the typical “sitcom in space” formula.

Amazon MGM Studios had already shown interest in a Weir adaptation even before the author had finished writing The Martian, purchasing the film rights early and locking in Drew Goddard to write the screenplay. Moviegoers may recall Goddard from his work on The Martian, and his excellent and loyal take on the popular novel was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination. Not everyone was thrilled with the team-up between Goddard and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. However, since their last notable works were Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The LEGO Movie, a Lord/Miller collaboration should result in the right combination of comedy and charm for a film of this magnitude.

Project Hail Mary Trailer Details

The title character of Project Hail Mary is played by Ryan Gosling. In the film, he is Ryland Grace, a science teacher at the middle school level. In the trailer, Grace wakes up to find himself in an unknown spaceship. He has amnesia and has no idea where or how he got there. The film immediately wastes no time, and after Grace recovers, he frantically runs around the spaceship, shouting, “Where the hell am I?” He may have survived his voyage to space, but it turns out that he’s made a trip to some unknown location in space, light-years away from his house in a suburban area on Earth. Grace subsequently flashes back to events in his past life in various snippets, all of which feature a clean-shaven Gosling. He’s on Earth, in his regular school attire, instructing his students before being approached by a covert organization and offered a mission to go to space.

The problem? It’s no secret, according to the conversation. The Sun is dying, and Grace and other scientists have observed other nearby stars doing the same. An anomaly of sorts, a mysterious third element is at work. However, they still don’t know what it is. The only exception is one star. Grace may be a former molecular biologist and the key to solving the riddle.

Nonetheless, he was not thrilled about it. He looks in the mirror, straightening his hair while on a phone call with the agency. Grace then asks if he’s been set up, and, without a doubt, he does not want to go to space. “I put the ‘not’ in astronaut,” Grace says before continuing, “I can’t even moonwalk!” But a high-ranking official with the organization, Eva Stratt (played by Sandra Hüller), has an alternative plan. “I have no choice, do I?” Eva inquires of him. She responds immediately, with all of the callousness she can muster. “If you don’t go, you die with the rest of us. If we do nothing, everything on this planet will go extinct.” The ultimatum may not have been her style, but it worked on Grace. When his students are in danger, a man will do practically everything in his power. He’s off to space after some hastily shot training in a space capsule.

In space, he goes. He receives a farewell message from the organization as he’s about to leave. “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, baby,” Grace says in the video. “Thanks for all of the good times,” he said with a grin. The viewer is then abruptly returned to the spaceship where Grace was found earlier. Grace, it seems, is flying solo, having suffered amnesia as a result of the voyage. It also appears that the rest of the ship’s company perished along the way, as a casting notice for the film revealed that Milana Vayntrub is Olesya Ilyukhina, a Russian flight member who is, at the time of the filming, deceased.

The solitary days in the spaceship don’t last long, thankfully, and Grace soon stumbles upon another spaceship in the movie’s trailer. Grace’s wanderings in space also seem to have introduced him to a new form of life. It’s adorable to look at, if only for a second. The specimen, who is nicknamed Rocky, is seen behind a semi-transparent protective barrier at one point. Rocky is not a massive insect or bug about to attack the spacecraft from the interior. He’s shown by Grace to be quite the opposite. “He’s kinda growing on me,” Grace can be seen saying in one of the videos he left for himself before the mission. “At least he’s not growing in me, you know?” Grace has an encounter with an alien, and he even has a kind moment when he records himself instructing Rocky how to do a thumbs-up.