00:00Project Hail Mary. The sun is not the only star dying. Every star was infected by its neighbor
00:05except one. Why? We don't know. Project Hail Mary had an out-of-this-world weekend at the box office
00:14as original stories finding their way to the big screen are thriving. Defying all the odds,
00:19the film starring Ryan Gosling blasted off with a domestic launch of $80.6 million,
00:25marking the best showing of the year so far and setting a new record for Amazon Studios.
00:30The news was just as good overseas, where the sci-fi epic collected $60.4 million from more
00:35than 80 markets for a global launch of $141 million. I'm not an astronaut. If you don't go, you die.
00:44We're the rest of us. The film's success upends the prevailing theory that the multiplex has become
00:49the dominion of sequels, threequels, and endless franchise installments. Case in point, Project
00:55Hail Mary joins Oppenheimer in becoming only the second non-sequel or non-franchise installment of
01:00the past decade to open to $80 million or more domestically. Gosling's top-grossing film of all
01:06time, of course, is Barbie, but Project Hail Mary is now his biggest domestic opening featuring the
01:11actor in a leading role not adjusted for inflation. The film, based on the novel of the same name,
01:16sees a science teacher wake up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is
01:21or how
01:21he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to discover his mission, solve the riddle of the
01:26mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and
01:31unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction, but an unexpected friendship means he
01:36may not have to do it alone. So, I met an alien. He's kind of growing on me. At least
01:40he's not growing
01:41in me, you know, which was a concern for a little while. Project Hail Mary was looking at a debut
01:45in
01:46the $50 to $60 million range heading into the weekend, but quickly went into hyperdrive when both
01:51critics and audiences embraced the warm-hearted action-adventure film. For more on this story
01:56and all the latest box office news and numbers, head to THR.com. This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
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