In PH cinemas March 18
Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller as Ryland Grace and Eva Stratt in Project Hail Mary
A journey light years away from our own galaxy awaits in Project Hail Mary, the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s (The Martian) hit sci-fi novel of the same name. Long time collaborators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are at the captain’s seat as producers and directors of the film. The duo received the manuscript for Weir, and consumed it in record time. “We read it in 24 hours,” Miller says. “I stayed up all night. I think I went to bed at 5am because I had to find out what happened.”
Lord saw something special in the novel, and just knew that they had to helm the project. “It presents as a space adventure, a disaster movie, and then a third of the way through, it becomes an intimate character study between two individuals who have to learn how to communicate,” Lord says. “That shift is what makes it special.”
Check out the latest sneak peek vignette from Project Hail Mary:
In Project Hail Mary, science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up in a spacecraft light years away from the solar system. Suffering from a bout of amnesia, his memory slowly returns, and his mission becomes clear: save humanity from a mysterious lifeform that seems to be draining the sun of its energy. He encounters an unlikely ally in the middle of his research, and together they might just have a shot against extinction.
Weir had actually handed Gosling his manuscript for Project Hail Mary in early 2020, before the release of the novel. He’d already had a vision of Gosling portraying his main protagonist, but he also wanted the actor to consider producing the film as well. “It’s such an epic journey,” Gosling says. “And Ryland Grace is not stoic in any way. He’s not brave in any traditional sense and he doesn’t have any illusions about being a hero. But he keeps trying.”
Author Andy Weir on the set of Project Hail Mary
With that, Gosling was on board, and soon after a team started being formed. Alongside the Lord-Miller duo, producer Amy Pascal (Little Women, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) was tapped to be part of the developing team. Pascal had also read the novel, and was drawn to the human element of Weir’s work. “It’s about science, yes,” Pascal says. “But it’s also about faith – faith in people, faith in collaboration. We’re living in a time where everyone is scared of each other. No one trusts each other. Nobody wants to listen to each other. Everybody’s in their silos just believing what they believe and reading different newspapers and not opening themselves up to other people. This movie is about having to listen. You have to learn someone else’s language. You have to understand where they’re coming from, or you can’t save the world.”
Producers and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on the set of Project Hail Mary
Lord had the same feelings going into making the film, and hopes that they can create something truly inspirational. “We are living through a time where things can seem impossible, and this movie is about what is possible when people come together with imagination and goodwill,” Lord says.
Set off on a journey across galaxies Project Hail Mary arrives in Philippine cinemas on March 18.
