For the past few years, there has been endless hemming and hawing about the decline of the theatrical model, but Ryan Gosling may have just put that debate to rest. Hollywood executives and major studios have often blamed streaming services, and by extension, the audience, for dwindling theater attendance. However, the surging success of Gosling’s new sci-fi movie, Project Hail Mary, has quickly dismantled those claims.
Ryan Gosling asserts it is not the job of fans to save theaters
On Thursday, March 19, Ryan Gosling surprised fans who went for an early show of Project Hail Mary in a New York Theater. While speaking to the audience there, he said, “Six years ago, I got the manuscript,” referring to the sci-fi movie.
He continued, “The most ambitious thing I’ll ever make, it seemed impossible. It was too good not to give it a shot. Six years later, we did it. Here we are, we’re all back in theaters. It’s not your job to keep them open, it’s our job to make things that make it worth you coming out.”
The film received a nationwide release in the US on March 20 and has already grossed $140.9 million at the global box office, per BBC. In the post COVID world, it is the third most successful non-sequel and non-franchise film to make more than $50 overseas, along with Oppenheimer and F1: The Movie.
Directed by the filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary is based on Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name. It follows Ryan Gosling as Dr. Ryland Grace, a former science teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up in a space aircarft and has no memory of how he ended up there. Based on 57,000 reviews, it has an 8.5 rating on IMDb, as of this writing. Meanwhile, the Rotten Tomatoes score is 96 percent. This positive response to the film is setting it up for more box office records.
