Project Hail Mary

[Brett Davidson]

I thought I'd open this because it might interest members. Project Hail Mary is a novel by Andy Weir, author of The Martian and is hard-ish sf (though a critical element has a TRL of 0 or less). Filming has wrapped on an adaptation starring Ryan Gosling that is slated for release on March 20, 2026. A trailer has been shown at a convention a couple of days ago. Audiences responses are that it's the best thing since fried Elvis.

Like The Martian, it's old-fashioned 'competence porn' in which the protagonist is given a series of technical problems and must devise a technical solution. (It owes a lot to Stephen Baxter's Moonseed and the Xeelee sequence IMO.)

Spoilers shouldn't be an issue as the book's been out for a few years now.

 

[Michel Van]

first picture from Movie

 

[Graham1973]

Here is the official teaser trailer, the sound track to which does appear to make reference to a certain Stephen Speilberg film.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzjXYW6JmGI

 

[Michel Van]

Here is the official teaser trailer

That mashup of movie clips with Matt Damon...

Biggest issue the Movie will have is Rocky
if make are not able to portray him as true alien (like in Ridley Scott Alien)

Spoiler: Who is Rocky ?

Rocky is alien from 40 Eridani. who the hero encounter
His home world has 20 time higher gravity and he exhale ammonia
Got 5 legs that also are 5 arms with hands
and like fashion

 

[Yellow Palace]

Biggest issue the Movie will have is Rocky

If you can't get Rocky right, you can't do Project Hail Mary right.

Hope hope hope.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Biggest issue the Movie will have is Rocky
if make are not able to portray him as true alien (like in Ridley Scott Alien)

A perennial issue with much sf - the 'alien' turns out to be just a human with stereotypical characteristics and bumps on their forehead, as in Star Trek. Rocky is certainly likeable as a character and while his physiology is alien, his cognition is not alien at all. Andy Weir devotes a portion of the story arguing for cognitive convergent evolution while spending time also on arguing for physiological divergent evolution despite panspermia. It would have been quite a different story, and much more thought=provoking if Rocky had been alien in his thought too.

Regarding the panspermia, Astrophage is repeatedly described as having mitochondria, i.e., being a eukaryote. We know that bacteria and archaea evolved without them.

 

[Brett Davidson]

If you can't get Rocky right, you can't do Project Hail Mary right.

Hope hope hope.

Yeah, whatever my technical objections, I love Rocky.

 

[Michel Van]

just a human with stereotypical characteristics and bumps on their forehead, as in Star Trek.

That because TV series budget are so low, it easier to take human with rubber forehead.

Ridley Scott Alien was on B-movie budget, but He got Talented people, who know to do it low cost.
Like guys from SFX from Space: 1999, the Set builder from Star Wars with aircraft scraps yard access
and Swiss Surrealist R.H. GIger who created most exotic Alien design ever.
That make Alien look like A-class Movie, with realistic look and feel for Spacecraft and Alien encounter

 

[Brett Davidson]

By the way, only a guess here. In the book, Grace wakes up alone to find both his crewmates dead. I'm guessing that in the film, only the commander, Yao, dies and Ilyukhina lives. Casting announcements have been for Grace and Stratt, and Milana Vayntrub has been named also, as if she were important. In the book, Ilyukhina gets only a few lines and is not in dramatic terms, a major character. However, a LOT of the book before Rocky appears and after Grace and Rocky set forth for Earth and Erid near the end consists of Grace talking to himself. That would make for very boring cinema - one character monologuing is going to be a lot less interesting on a screen than two characters brainstorming solutions to the parade of problems that Grace would otherwise have to face alone.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Here is the official teaser trailer,

No, it's not. From the description:

Jul 20, 2022
Fan made, unless you give me $200m

 

[Michel Van]

movie Poster
the Official Trailer is for monday june 30 2025

 

[Foo Fighter]

Cool, slowly getting through the book, I hope it gets made without too much alteration.

 

[Michel Van]

The Trailer
again Hollywood dit own thing on Hardware...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkcENinRJ-g

 

[Brett Davidson]

Groovy. I've taken some screen caps of the hardware, with comments. Design differs from the descriptions in the book.

First the Hail Mary herself, exterior. The habitat is the central body and the astrophage tanks are spaced around it. Since the drive isn't lit in any of the shots, I wondered which end was the front. Grace's mission patch solves that mystery. What looks like a cupola window is visible on the side of the central body and it is seen in the interior shots, giving some clues to the interior layout. The green planet is most likely the Taumoeba homeworld.

The model could be reused if they decide to reboot Blake's 7.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Some interiors of the HM. It's more spacious than it was described in the book.

I don't think that they've made the usual mistake of making (artificial) gravity perpendicular to the long axis of the ship. There are a number of cylindrical modules protruding from the sides of the central body at right angles in the images above and it looks like these will be the living and laboratory spaces, control room, and airlock. Think of a Cross of Lorraine.

Possibly, the cylindrical forms of the living spaces indicates that when artificial gravity is being used, the centre body is extended away from the engines and tanks (which become a counterweight) and the spaces rotate 180 degrees within their cantilevered cylinders, allowing 'down' to be consistent when both accelerating and spinning.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Blip-A and HM. Plus glimpses of Rocky's hands.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Fanart of HM & Blip-A as described in the book.

 

[starviking]

Looks like some thought has gone into the film-design process!

Thanks for sharing, Rhinocrates.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Where I think the cupola is, indicating that some of the cylindrical spaces are at right angles to the axis, and that the HM is a big ship (while Blip-A must be ginormous). Also, a control panel clearly saying 'centrifugal gravity.'

 

[Flyaway]

Is the book recommended?

 

[Michel Van]

Is the book recommended?

HIGHLY ! ! !

 

[Foo Fighter]

Is the book recommended?

Seconded.

 

[Brett Davidson]

A quick trailer breakdown which looks at how filmmaking techniques support the storytelling.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsf9Ok8yZpw&ab_channel=LorenBehindtheScreen

 

[Michel Van]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1949229553248796858

View: https://twitter.com/projecthailmary/status/1949229553248796858

 

[Brett Davidson]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectHailMary/comments/1lsbsp0/working_out_locations_on_the_hail_mary_ship

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectHailMary/comments/1lsbsp0/working_out_locations_on_the_hail_mary_ship/

 

[Brett Davidson]

I guess the 'Don't Go Crazy Room' is this space seen in the trailer - wraparound screens giving a VR experience of Earth.

Danny Boyle's 2007 film, Sunshine, featured a similar space on board the spaceship Icarus II. I wonder if such spaces will indeed become standard on deep-space vessels.

 

[publiusr]

A still from the film

Project Hail Mary Film

I LOVED the Andy Weird novel and was slightly trepidatious about the film when they announced Ryan Gosling in the role. At the same time I am keenly aware that you need a big name to get these films made. Having said that I do feel like the trailer captures the tone of the book fairly well, from...

www.therpf.com

Discussion

Project Hail Mary | Ryan Gosling (March 20, 2026)

If you haven't read Andy Weir's novel, don't watch the trailer if you don't want to be spoiled about certain things. 11.9 Light-years from home. 6th grade science teacher. 1 chance to save us all. Based on Andy Weir's New York Times best-selling novel. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher...

www.trekbbs.com

 

[GTX]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKX5MLiAC8Q

 

[Brett Davidson]

New trailer.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYsnngkS_U

 

[Brett Davidson]

Sequence showing how the habitat section is detached from the main ship but tethered so that the whole assembly can be spun to generate artificial gravity. In principle, it's the same as in the book although the ship has a different design.

The main difference, the change to the hab being long and horizontal when deployed, would be a filming decision - it's much easier to shoot someone walking down a corridor than constantly climbing up and down ladders.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Indication of scale. You can see Grace on one of the hab modules. Blip A is somewhat different from its description in the book too.

 

[GTX]

Good vision of Rocky in that latest trailer. Gives me hope they are following the book closely.

 

[Michel Van]

I think they nailed it with Rocky
alone this little gesture by Rocky, toward the Alien he encounter...

 

[amadolabonte]

I thought I'd open this because it might interest members. Project Hail Mary is a novel by Andy Weir, author of The Martian and is hard-ish sf (though a critical element has a TRL of 0 or less). Filming has wrapped on an adaptation starring Ryan Gosling that is slated for release on March 20, 2026. A trailer has been shown at a convention a couple of days ago. Audiences responses are that it's the best thing since fried Elvis.

Like The Martian, it's old-fashioned 'competence porn' in which the protagonist is given a series of technical problems and must devise a technical solution, much like the structured approach used in quran classes online. (It owes a lot to Stephen Baxter's Moonseed and the Xeelee sequence IMO.)

Spoilers shouldn't be an issue as the book's been out for a few years now.

Project Hail Mary sounds really exciting! Andy Weir’s blend of hard science and problem-solving makes it a compelling read, and it’ll be interesting to see how Ryan Gosling brings it to life. With the positive early reactions to the trailer, it looks like it could be a great adaptation when it releases on March 20, 2026.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Well, having read the Martian and Project Hail Mary, I am now ploughing my way through Artemis. Not getting it tbh, the very unlikely central character may grow on me yet but usually after a couple of chapters the main character has to have 'something' to make me give a throwaway. This one, I just cannot. Odd.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Official Project Hail Mary Lego set revealed.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94IyMSqV3Ro

 

[Flyaway]

I don’t get to the cinema much these days but I think I’ll make an effort for this film.

Final trailer:

View: https://youtu.be/P0XN3-n-2Lo

 

[SteveO]

It’s a great story, hopefully they pull off another “The Martian” with the film. The trailers have given me hope anyway

 

[TsrJoe]

Not q sure the actor is the right choice (based upon previous roles) but happy to reserve judgement, the book was ok

 

[Archibald]

I've just finished the novel (within the span of a weekend). My mind is blown. The movie should be... interesting.