‘Project Hail Mary’ has become Amazon MGM’s biggest box office hit

Amazon’s bet on “Project Hail Mary” has paid off, with the film recently surpassing “Creed III” to become the company’s highest-grossing film.

And it was a big bet, with the budget said about $200 million. That’s the price tag for any movie, but especially one that isn’t a sequel or part of an existing franchise. Instead, it’s based on the best-selling science fiction novel by Andy Weir, whose novel “The Martian” was turned into a hit movie a decade ago.

And that’s not the only thing that makes “Project Tail Mary” feel strange. For the duration of the film, Ryan Gosling is the only human actor on the screen, as a scientist who plays works with a rock-like alien to solve the mystery of why many stars – including ours – seem to be shrinking.

But after 10 days in theaters, “Project Hail Mary” has brought in an estimated $164.3 million in North America, and $136.2 million overseas. according to The Hollywood Reporter. Domestically, it only dropped 32% in its second weekend, to $54.5 million, so its final box office numbers should be even higher when it leaves theaters.

This makes “Project Hail Mary” the highest-grossing film of 2026 (so far), and one of the highest-grossing unlicensed, non-sequel films of the last decade.

And it’s good news for what is now known as Amazon MGM Studios. The company’s film ambitions have changed over time, from distributing smaller, better-known titles like “The Big Sick” and “Manchester by the Sea” to more recently. buy the movie studio MGM (leads to The battle for control of the James Bond franchise) and declare his intention bring 14 movies to theaters every year.

Until “Hail Mary,” those films – including “After the Hunt,” “Mercy,” and “Melania” conflicting posts. – seems to fall flat with the audience.

Amazon movie director Courtenay Valenti he told The New York Times that “Project Hail Mary’s” big opening weekend confirmed the company’s strategy of making “big, bold, entertaining films.” And it has more movies coming to theaters soon, including “The Sheep Detective” starring Hugh Jackman in May, then “Masters of the Universe” reboot in June.