Ryan Gosling breaks a personal career record — which is also a heads-up for those planning on seeing his next movie for what they are getting into.
Project Hail Mary, based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir, is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and stars Gosling as a lone astronaut in space who must save planet Earth. Weir is also the author of The Martian, the basis for Ridley Scott’s movie. Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary also stars Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub.
Per yosemitecinema.com, Project Hail Mary is 2 hours and 46 minutes long, making it Gosling’s longest film to date. Previously, this career record was held by Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, starring Gosling alongside Harrison Ford, which clocks in at 2 hours and 43 minutes. This is also considered to be one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies.
Ryan Gosling as Ryan Gosling Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary
The Martian is also a lengthy movie, running for 2 hours and 31 minutes, but its seven Oscar nominations are arguably a testament to Weir’s detailed sci-fi stories necessitating this screentime. It’s not impossible for the audience to commit to longer movies, evidenced by the likes of Avatar: Fire and Ash and Oppenheimer, in recent history, but it needs the right hook.
Gosling’s last theatrically released movie was 2024’s The Fall Guy, which was a flop, in part due to its estimated, inflated budget of $140 million. Before that, Gosling starred in the global phenomenon of Barbie, which grossed $1.4 billion worldwide, stemming from a different appeal than the likes of Project Hail Mary or The Martian.
Variety reports that Project Hail Mary’s budget is $150 million, setting up the same hurdle faced by The Fall Guy. According to the rule of thumb that a movie needs to gross 2.5 times its budget to break even, Project Hail Mary is shooting for probably around $400 million, and could still reach this, when The Martian grossed $630 million, albeit 10 years ago.
Gosling is also slated to star in another hopeful blockbuster, Star Wars: Starfighter, which releases in May 2027. Thus, there are multiple upcoming occasions where we will see what kind of box office power the La La Land star has today. Project Hail Mary has a PG-13 rating, so it doesn’t alienate audiences who wouldn’t go to an R-rated movie, but it is still a long time in a cinema.
Project Hail Mary releases in theaters on March 20, 2026.
Release Date
March 20, 2026
Runtime
166 Minutes
Director
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
Sandra Hüller
Eva Stratt
Milana Vayntrub
Olesya Ilyukhina
