‘Project Hail Mary’ is bringing audiences to movie theaters in numbers the industry hasn’t seen for a non-franchise film since ‘Oppenheimer’. The science fiction epic starring Ryan Gosling earned around USD 80.5 million in ticket sales in its first weekend playing in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. Box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that translates into about 5 million ticket buyers.
‘Project Hail Mary’ scores biggest box office opening of 2026
The PG-13 rated film opened on 4,007 screens and easily topped the domestic box office charts, surpassing expectations to become the biggest of the year and delivering a record opening for studio Amazon MGM, whose previous best was ‘Creed III’ (USD 58 million in 2023)‘Project Hail Mary’ also scored the second biggest opening for a non-franchise movie behind only ‘Oppenheimer’, which opened to USD 82.4 million in 2023. It is now one of only three non-franchise movies in the past decade to open over USD 70 million (the third is Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ ).
‘Project Hail Mary’ tops space movie box office openings
In the genre of modern space movies, the film exceeded the debuts of ‘The Martian’, also an Andy Weir adaptation that opened around USD 54.3 million in 2015, ‘Gravity’ which scored USD 55.6 million in 2013 and ‘Interstellar, which earned USD 47.5 million in 2014.Internationally, ‘Project Hail Mary’ earned $60.4 million from 82 markets, bringing its global total to USD 140.9 million.
About ‘Project Hail Mary’
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, ‘Project Hail Mary’ cost about double the ‘Oppenheimer’ production budget, with a price tag in the USD 200 million range. But it also carries strong reviews and audience scores and could be destined for a long run. The film is centered around Gosling’s character who wakes up alone and with little memory on a spaceship, where his apparent mission is to try to save the sun from dying. As has become the norm for “event” movies like this, premium large format screens were in demand, making up 56% of the weekend’s gross. IMAX screens alone accounted for USD 27.6 million of the global total. ‘Project Hail Mary’ will have a second weekend essentially free of big competition until it loses its IMAX screens to ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ on April 1.
‘Hoppers ‘ continues strong run
Disney and Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ came in second on the list, earning an estimatd USD 18 million at the box office. The film’s total domestic collection now stands at an estimated USD 120.38 million. The animated film that was off to a successful run at the box office, also raked in an impressive USD 122.20 million from international markets, thus taking its worldwide total haul to an estimated USD 242.58 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge ‘ opens with third highest collection
The Bollywood sequel ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh in the lead, made an estimated USD 9.6 million on its opening weekend, from Friday through Sunday according to the US distributor. Meanwhile Comscore is projecting a slightly higher USD 10 million figure. On the other hand, Box Office Mojo has reported a gross total collection at the box office, estimated to be around USD 13.51 million.The film began its box office run, earning USD 3.94 million on Thursday and saw a dip in collections on Friday, earning USD 2.96 million as it locked horns with ‘Prject Hail Mary’. However, the film saw good growth at the box office on Saturday, earning an estimated USD 3.88 million and as per Sunday’s early estimates, the movie earned an estimated USD 2.72 million.
‘Dhurandhar 2’ beats ‘Ready Or Not 2’
In a box office surprise, the Bollywood film took a lead over the ‘Ready or Not’ sequel ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’. The film earned an estimated USD 9.1 million. Universal’s Colleen Hoover adaptation ‘Reminders of Him’ rounded out the top five in its second weekend with USD 8 million.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. ‘Project Hail Mary’ – USD 80.5 million.2. ‘Hoppers’ – USD 18 million.3. ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ – USD 10 million.4. ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’- USD 9.1 million.5. ‘Reminders of Him’ – USD 8 million.6. ‘Scream 7’ – USD 4.3 million.7. ‘Goat’ – USD 3.7 million.8. ‘Undertone’ – USD 3 million.9. ‘The Pout-Pout Fish’ – USD 1.5 million.10. ‘MET Opera: Tristan und Isolde’- USD 722,499.
