Ryan Gosling\u2019s sci-fi epic \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d lived up to its name, collecting a stellar $80.5 million in its box office launch to deliver a much-needed theatrical win for Amazon MGM.<\/p>\n
This marks the studio\u2019s biggest opening ever, shattering the record set by 2023\u2019s \u201cCreed III\u201d with $58\u00a0million. It\u2019s also the largest debut of the year above February\u2019s slasher sequel \u201cScream 7\u201d with $63 million. Heading into the weekend, \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d was projected to earn $65 million or more at the domestic box office; excellent reviews and positive word-of-mouth helped to propel initial ticket sales even higher.<\/p>\n
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\u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d generated $60.4 million at the international box office for a global start of $140.9 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe deeply in the Hail Mary, and it\u2019s clear audiences do as well,\u201d says Amazon MGM\u2019s distribution chief Kevin Wilson. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing in theaters \u2014 the energy, the exit scores, the word of mouth \u2014 is everything we believed this film would deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d adapted from \u201cThe Martian\u201d author Andy Weir\u2019s best-selling novel, cost $200 million to produce and many millions more to market. Since theater owners get to keep about half of ticket sales, Amazon MGM needs the movie to stick around beyond its debut to justify the price tag. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (\u201c21 Jump Street,\u201d \u201cThe Lego Movie\u201d) directed the film, which follows a scientist who embarks on an intergalactic mission to save the planet from extinction. It holds a stellar 95% average on Rotten Tomatoes and earned an \u201cA\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Amazon MGM\u2019s first big hit,\u201d says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. \u201cWhat makes the story work is the balance of science fiction and humanity. \u2018The Martian\u2019\u00a0had similar heart, and it\u2019s working again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d comes at a pivotal time for Amazon. This is the studio\u2019s first year with a full theatrical slate (13 films are scheduled for 2026) since the e-commerce giant MGM for\u00a0$8 billion in 2022<\/a>. So far, the company\u2019s foray into theatrical has been rocky. January\u2019s first lady doc \u201cMelania\u201d generated $16 million, impressive for the genre, but\u00a0tragic against a $40 million price tag. Then, February\u2019s\u00a0R-rated caper \u201cCrime 101\u2033\u00a0grossed just\u00a0$65 million against a $90 million budget. So there was pressure on \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d\u00a0to become a crowd-pleasing hit and\u00a0change the\u00a0narrative\u00a0around the company\u2019s movie efforts. Amazon\u2019s next major release is June\u2019s toy adaptation \u201cMasters of the Universe,\u201d which will try to build on the success of \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n Audiences for \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d were 57% male and 60% white. Many of them chose to watch the movie on premium large formats, with Imax, Dolby and other larger-than-life screens representing roughly 55% of ticket sales.<\/p>\n \u201cThis film is tailor-made for the [PLF] experience,\u201d says Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory.\u00a0\u201cThe results again underscore how important it is for exhibition and studios to continue prioritizing expansion efforts for those auditoriums. When an event-level film such as this captures cultural attention, it\u2019s a perfect recipe for reminding people what truly separates the best theatrical experiences from anything else available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n This weekend\u2019s other newcomer, Disney and Searchlight\u2019s horror sequel \u201cReady or Not 2: Here I Come,\u201d opened in fourth place with $9 million from 3,010 North American theaters. Those ticket sales were slightly below expectations and arrived just ahead of 2019\u2019s \u201cReady or Not,\u201d which debuted to $8 million. \u201cReady or Not 2\u201d started slow overseas with $2.8 million from 21 territories for a global launch of $11.9 million. The follow-up film, starring\u00a0Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton as sisters who attempt to survive a diabolical game of hide-and-seek, carries a $20 million price tag.<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s Pixar adventure \u201cHoppers\u201d slid to second place after two weekends at No. 1. The kid-friendly film added $18 million, bringing ticket sales to $120.4 million domestically and $242 million globally after three weekends of release. \u201cHoppers\u201d is snapping a cold streak for Pixar, which has scored with sequels such as \u201cInside Out 2\u201d but hasn\u2019t fielded an original hit since 2017\u2019s \u201cCoco.\u201d<\/p>\n Third place went to the Indian action epic \u201cDhurandhar The Revenge,\u201d which earned $9.5 million from just 987 locations. According to distributor Moviegoers Entertainment, this is the biggest opening weekend ever for a Bollywood film in North America, overtaking the benchmark set by 2023\u2019s \u201cPathaan\u201d with $6.9 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an incredible opening, especially for a four-hour movie,\u201d the distributor wrote in a note to press.<\/p>\n \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d will rule the box office until Universal and Illumination\u2019s \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie\u201d lands on April 1. At this point in the year, overall ticket sales are 21% ahead of 2025, according to Comscore. However, revenues remain roughly 20% behind the pre-pandemic average.<\/p>\n More to come\u2026<\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Gosling\u2019s sci-fi epic \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d lived up to its name, collecting a stellar $80.5 million in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[971,6471,49,48,75,176940,337,21344,1354,44989],"class_list":["post-553928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-amazon","tag-box-office","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-hail-mary","tag-movies","tag-project-hail-mary","tag-ryan-gosling","tag-ticket-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}