The latest trailer for “Project Hail Mary” embraces the everyday human nature of Ryan Gosling’s character Ryland Grace from his humble life as a schoolteacher who bikes to work to how once he’s in space meets an alien and affectionately names it Rocky. Directed by Academy Award winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, best known for “21 Jump Street” and the “Spider-Verse” franchise, it’s a safe bet to expect heart, humor, and amazing use of visual effects in their storytelling.
“Champagne Supernova” by Oasis is featured in the trailer in a way that sets an ephemeral vibe that appropriately matches what I would imagine to be floating in space which is what Grace must do as he seeks to find a solution to save Planet Earth. I mean if I was looking down on the planet from space, this song is up there with “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay for ideal background music.
And if you were living under a rock and didn’t see “Barbie” two summers ago or even “Crazy, Stupid, Love” then “Project Hail Mary” is your opportunity to enjoy and recognize Ryan Gosling as a leading man with humor.
The trailer contains a moment where he questions the value of his life to the government agency that has approached him to help save the world, “Am I expendable? It’s almost like you don’t care if I die. Come on, you have to talk about it?”
And to be fair, the response he gets back is just as funny, “The consensus here is that it would be preferable if you did not die.”
But stay tuned to the end of the trailer, as his interactions with the nonverbal Rocky who either communicates with body language or interfacing with a computer monitor to output English.
Catch this adaptation of Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, “Project Hail Mary,” in theaters on March 20, 2026.
