Project Hail Mary (2026)

Project Hail Mary keeps cutting back to Earth for flashbacks full of committees and paperwork, and every one of them is less fun than the alien. Those detours are why 156 minutes feels long. The alien is a rock-shaped engineer named Rocky who talks in musical chords, and he might be the best scene partner Ryan Gosling has ever had. Gosling plays a middle school science teacher stranded in space like a guy who keeps surprising himself by being smart. The science is the plot, the jokes land, and the friendship sneaks up on you hard. Sandra Hüller’s Stratt is all business, the kind of boss who’d skip her own birthday to hit a deadline. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller keep it bright without going silly. It made $684.5 million worldwide on a reported $248M budget. An 8.3 because the space half is a joy and the Earth half is a staff meeting in a lab coat. $1,272 says you pick up a rock on your next walk and talk to it way longer than you’d admit.

What works: Rocky is a delightful, completely believable alien, and Gosling’s mix of panic and nerdy joy makes the science fun.

What doesn’t: The Earth flashbacks keep interrupting the momentum, and at 156 minutes the middle could lose a few experiments.

Who it’s for: Science nerds, buddy movie fans and anyone who wants a big space adventure that runs on brains instead of explosions.