Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir Named His Two Favorite Scenes In The Movie
by Ryan Scott · /FilmThis article contains spoilers for "Project Hail Mary."
There's still a lot of 2026 left, but it seems fair to say that "Project Hail Mary" may go down as the surprise of the year. It's not that a movie starring Ryan Gosling ("Barbie") that was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller ("The LEGO Movie") was doomed or anything like that, but the sheer level of success that a non-franchise blockbuster of this scale has achieved is nothing shy of staggering. There's a lot to love about it. Andy Weir, whose book inspired the movie, loves a lot about it.
In an interview with Space.com, Weir discussed some of his favorite scenes from the movie. /Film's Ethan Anderton called "Project Hail Mary" one of the best sci-fi movies ever in his review, so there's naturally a lot to choose from. But what did the guy who literally wrote the book single out? Here's what he had to say:
"It's kind of a tie. The first contact stuff when Ryland and Rocky are trying to interact with each other and create a shared language. And the other one would be the fishing sequence when they have to get a sample from Adrian's atmosphere, that's really pulse-pounding."
Weir's picks are tough to argue against. Rocky and Ryland can't be in the same space, which makes their necessary relationship all the more complicated. Before they can even begin to tackle working together under those circumstances, they have to learn how to communicate. Seeing that come together, truncated though it may be by the time constraints imposed by the medium of film, is pretty compelling.
There's a lot to love in Project Hail Mary
Then there's the so-called fishing sequence. The key to the whole plan in "Project Hail Mary" revolves around Ryland and Rocky obtaining a sample from the planet dubbed Adrian to combat the Astrophage, which is killing stars across the galaxy. It's a thrilling sequence, and one that has an enormous amount at stake. Not just for humanity, but for the damn universe.
Andy Weir got his start as an author with blog posts that became "The Martian." That book, in turn, became a hit movie that kick-started his Hollywood career. So far as authors who have had their books turned into Hollywood hits go, he's had a pretty charmed run. But it's downright nice to hear that he genuinely likes what's become of his books on screen and is able to relish in the cinematic delights just like the rest of us.
"Project Hail Mary" has been dominating at the box office since its March release, pulling in $639 million worldwide and counting. Amazon isn't rushing it to streaming even though they're ultimately in the business of servicing Prime Video. It's exceptionally rare that non-franchise movies make this kind of money these days, and this one has a real shot at some awards season love later this year/next year as well. It's a unicorn in the modern cinematic era.
Both in terms of what's on the screen and the narrative around the movie, there's so much to love about it. It's a feel-good story.
"Project Hail Mary" is in theaters now.