Ryan Gosling takes to the stars in the first trailer for Project Hail Mary.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), the upcoming sci-fi film is based on the Hugo-nominated novel of the same name by The Martian author Andy Weir. Ridley Scott’s film adaptation of The Martian earned seven Academy Award nominations, including one for screenwriter Drew Goddard, who also penned the script for Project Hail Mary. Could this Weir adaptation soar to similar heights?
Like The Martian, Project Hail Mary centers on a man lost in space. But unlike The Martian‘s botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon), Project Hail Mary‘s Ryland Grace (Gosling) did not sign up for his jaunt into space. As he puts it in the film’s first trailer, “I put the not in astronaut.”
So how did Grace, a dorky middle school science teacher, end up in the deepest reaches of the universe?
It all starts with the threat of apocalypse. Our sun is dying, along along with many other stars across the galaxy — except one. Understanding why that one star is immune to whatever is infecting the other stars could be key to Earth’s survival. Enter European Space Agency administrator Eva Stratt (Anatomy of a Fall‘s Sandra Hüller), who’s in charge of “Project Hail Mary,” humanity’s long-shot attempt at survival. She’s assembling a team to travel 11.9 light years to the star, and she’s recruited Grace based on his prior experience as a molecular biologist. According to her, he’s the only person in the world who might know what is happening to our sun. No pressure!
Project Hail Mary‘s first trailer teases what to expect from Grace’s space journey, from his panic upon waking from his coma to his first spacewalk. As if that weren’t enough, he even encounters an alien! To witness Gosling’s first contact and more, watch the full trailer above.
Project Hail Mary also stars Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub.
Project Hail Mary hits theaters March 20.
