‘Project Hail Mary’ is continuing its stellar run at the box office, maintaining impressive momentum after its debut. The Project Hail Mary adaptation, starring Ryan Gosling, earned $14.6 million on Friday and is projected to drop just 34 percent in its second weekend, landing around $53.1 million. That marks one of the strongest holds in recent memory for films opening in a similar range, outperforming titles like ‘Oppenheimer’ (54%) and ‘Dune: Part Two’ (44%).

By Sunday, the film’s global total is expected to surpass $200 million, including roughly $137 million domestically and over $100 million internationally. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie exceeded expectations with an $80.6 million domestic opening last weekend—the biggest of the year so far and one of the strongest debuts in a decade for a non-franchise film.

While Gosling’s highest-grossing movie overall remains ‘Barbie,’ ‘Project Hail Mary’ represents his largest domestic opening in a leading role (not adjusted for inflation). It also marks a career-best domestic debut for Lord and Miller.

Internationally, the film is also outperforming expectations, particularly notable given that sci-fi can be a challenging genre in parts of Europe, Latin America, and Asia. It launched with $60.4 million across 80 markets, bringing its global opening to approximately $141 million—the best Hollywood debut of 2026 so far. By Friday, overseas earnings reached $98.7 million across 86 markets, including $11.7 million that day alone, a 4 percent increase over the previous Friday.

Much of the film’s success is being driven by strong word-of-mouth, with audiences responding to its humor and emotional depth.

The film’s success comes at a pivotal time for Amazon MGM Studios, which is positioning itself as a major Hollywood player. Meanwhile, Skydance Media, led by David Ellison, is expanding after acquiring Paramount Global in August 2025 and is now pursuing Warner Bros. Discovery.

Elsewhere at the box office, ‘Hoppers’ is projected to earn another $11–12 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $137.3 million and reinforcing Pixar’s strength in original storytelling, especially compared to Elio, which finished with $72.9 million domestically.

Competing for third place are several films, including ‘They Will Kill You,’ ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ starring Ranveer Singh, and ‘Reminders of Him.’

‘They Will Kill You,’ a collaboration between New Line Cinema and Skydance, follows a group of Satan-worshipping tenants in a luxury New York building who carry out ritual killings of their staff. Directed by Kirill Sokolov and co-written with Alex Litvak, the film holds a 79% audience score and a 65% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. While respectable, its audience exit scores are only moderate.

‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’ (Searchlight Pictures) is in its second weekend after opening slightly stronger at $9.1 million domestically, creating stiff competition in the same genre space.

MORE NEWS