As promising as this upcoming sci-fi movie may seem, I cannot help but be concerned about it after The Fall Guy‘s disappointing $170 million box office. 2024 started on a high note when Dune: Part Two dominated the box office by earning almost $712 million against a budget of $190 million. However, what seemingly started as a great year for cinema soon took a strange turn when several big-budget movies started failing at the global box office.

Furiosa: A Mad Max was the most recent victim of this declining box office numbers trend, making me wonder what factors are leading to this fall in many movies’ commercial value. Despite having seemingly bankable stars like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as its leads and a talented action director like David Leitch at its helm, The Fall Guy, too, was far from breaking even with its box office numbers. If this trend of diminishing box office returns does not change in the near future, I am worried this upcoming sci-fi film might meet the same fate as The Fall Guy and Furiosa.

Project Hail Mary Explained: What Ryan Gosling’s Upcoming Sci-Fi Movie Is About

Ryan Gosling’s Upcoming Sci-Fi Movie Is A Space Opera

Written by Andy Weir, who is best known as the author of the original The Martian novel, Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling in the film). In the story’s opening arc, Grace, a former scientist turned junior high school teacher, awakens alone in a spaceship, with no memories of how he ended up there and what his purpose is. Things get even more grim when he discovers that Earth faces a major extinction-level threat, and the planet’s fate rests in his hands.

In many ways, Project Hail Mary is reminiscent of The Martian.

Following this discovery, Ryland Grace must put his scientific forte and resourcefulness to good use and race against time to save the world before it is too late. In many ways, Project Hail Mary is reminiscent of The Martian. Like the Ridley Scott movie, Project Hail Mary also primarily focuses on a sole astronaut whose narrative is driven by a time-bound mission. However, as Project Hail Mary‘s storyline suggests, the stakes for the main character in the film are way higher as he must not only save himself but the entire human race from imminent destruction.

The Fall Guy’s Box Office Is Concerning For Project Hail Mary

The Fall Guy Earned Only $179 Million Against A $150 Million Budget

Project Hail Mary‘s story details alone make it one of the most exciting movies of 2026. The fact that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who previously wrote and directed several acclaimed films, like 21 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, are helming it brings immense credibility to it. Ryan Gosling’s involvement, especially after his recent Oscar-nominated performance in Barbie, adds another layer of anticipation to the sci-fi film. However, The Fall Guy‘s underwhelming box office numbers raise some questions surrounding Gosling’s bankability as a lead actor.

Even though Gosling was coming straight off the back of Barbie‘s massive success and hype, with that Kenergy continuing in the lead-in to The Fall Guy, the movie failed to please the masses. The Fall Guy even landed in critics’ good books and still boasts a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81%. However, despite garnering positive reviews from both viewers and critics and having a star-studded cast, the film failed to leave its mark at the global box office. Gosling undoubtedly has the acting talent to single-handedly drive a film like Project Hail Mary, but is his involvement with the project enough to draw in audiences?

Why Project Hail Mary Could Do Better Than The Fall Guy

Project Hail Mary Has All The Right Ingredients To Become A Blockbuster

Custom image by Yeider Chacon.

Given how Andy Weir’s work has previously traversed incredibly well to the big screen, Project Hail Mary seems to have the makings of a potential blockbuster. Although Project Hail Mary falls into the “hard sci-fi” subgenre, which could eventually limit its reach, the film is going to follow Andy Weir’s gripping source material that, like The Martian, makes many complex scientific concepts more accessible. Since Andy Weir also has several bestselling novels under his belt, the author has a well established following, which could help Project Hail Mary avoid The Fall Guy‘s box office fate.