Ryan Gosling Chats With An Alien In A New Project Hail Mary Clip

The Goz makes first contact in Project Hail Mary, the new sci-fi epic from the guys behind Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

By now it’s pretty common knowledge that Project Hail Mary, the imminent adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel from the directing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is a first contact story. There’s not much to be done about that – the book has been out for five years, after all, and besides, it’s in the marketing material.

That’s a bit of a shame, though. People who scream about spoilers all the time are, well, morons, but the odd nice surprise is welcome – imagine how blown away you would have been if you had no idea the Hulk was in Thor: Ragnarok, to cite to a fairly recent example? But it is what it is, and what this is is your first decent look at Ryan Gosling‘s Dr. Ryland Grace trying to make small talk with an alien he dubs “Rocky”.

Project Hail Mary Clip

What’s the plot?

School teacher and former molecular biologist Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is tapped for a last ditch mission into space to save the Earth from extinction. It seems the sun is dimming – and it’s not the only one. In fact, the only nearby star not guttering out is in the Tau Ceti system. So, our everyman is jammed into a spaceship and fired off into the unknown, hopefully to find a solution. What he finds is an alien, on the same mission for his species.

If you’re familiar with The Martian – book or film – you know Weir’s vibe. It’s a combo of hard science, sardonic humour, and a kind of pragmatic can-do optimism. All of that seems present and correct here.

Who’s in it?

• Ryan Gosling is Ryland Grace, our plucky hero.
• Sandra Hüller (Anatomy Of A Fall, The Zone Of Interest) is Eva Stratt, Ryland’s superior.
• Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us) is Olesya Ilyukhina, one of the crewmembers of the Hail Mary.
• Liz Kingman (Parlement) is Shapiro.
• Lionel Boyce as Officer Steve Hatch.
• Ken Leung as Yáo Li-Jie, another of the crewmembers of the Hail Mary.
• James Ortiz is Rocky, our alien.
• Priya Kansara as the voice of Mary, the Hail Mary ship.

When’s it out?

Project Hail Mary hits Australian cinemas on March 19, 2026.

What’s the vibe?

Just between you, me, and the fencepost, I think Project Hail Mary has a real shot at being one of the best and biggest movies of the year. Now, I’ve been wrong before, and I’ll be wrong again – hell, I’ll probably be wrong later today – but I play my hunches, friends, and I think you’re gonna wanna see this one.