The new sci-fi movie, which was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, was adapted by Drew Goddard from the 2021 novel of the same name by The Martian author Andy Weir. It stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a disgraced molecular biologist and middle school science teacher who embarks on a mission into space to save humanity. The Project Hail Mary release kicked off on the weekend of March 20 with an $80.5 million domestic debut, marking the best opening weekend in history for an Amazon MGM Studios release and the best March debut for a non-franchise movie.
Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Project Hail Mary is projected to earn a 3-day total of $54.5 million by the end of its sophomore weekend at the domestic box office. In addition to seeing it easily claim the No. 1 spot on the domestic chart for the second consecutive weekend, this marks the second-best sophomore weekend domestic gross in history for a non-franchise movie, behind 2009's Avatar ($75.6 million).
It is also set to have a week-on-week drop of just 32%, giving it one of the 200 smallest week 2 drops of all time. If its current projections hold, that 34% drop will see 2026's Project Hail Mary hitting No. 150 on the Top 200, tying with the week 2 drops of Inception, We're the Millers, and Those Who Wish Me Dead.
Overall, Project Hail Mary is set to tie with Inception for the 9th smallest week 2 drop ever for a non-superhero sci-fi movie, behind only Passengers (+8.7%), Avatar (-1.8%), Bumblebee (-3.5%), Planet 51 (-16.8%), Gravity (-22.6%), Mars Needs Moms (-23.1%), Avatar: Fire and Ash (-29.2%), and the previous Andy Weir adaptation The Martian (-31.9%).
Meanwhile, Project Hail Mary's biggest new release competitor for the weekend, the horror-comedy They Will Kill You, is severely underperforming. While it was never expected to beat the sci-fi blockbuster, the Zazie Beetz-led project, which reportedly cost $20 million, is projected to debut with a 3-day total of $5 million. It hit No. 3 after a neck and neck race with the splashy Indian import Dhurandhar: The Revenge (which is only playing in 987 theaters during its domestic sophomore weekend, compared to They Will Kill You's 2,778).
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