‘Project Hail Mary’ Rocketing Into Awards Season as SFFILM Gives Oscar Contender Sloan Science in Cinema Prize

Phil Lord and Chris Miller's space odyssey feels like it was light-years ago, doesn't it? The Amazon MGM Best Picture vehicle is now making its awards season entrance.

“The Odyssey” dominated the summer, “La Bola Negra” won TIFF, and “Wild Horse Nine” galloped its way to best actor at the Venice Film Festival. The March release of “Project Hail Mary” feels like light-years ago in awards-season terms, doesn’t it? But Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s space odyssey is poised to re-enter orbit with planned fall screenings and tastemaker events as Amazon MGM Studios revs up its most potent Best Picture vehicle to date.

Today, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, San Francisco’s SFFILM has announced it will present the Sloan Science in Cinema award to the Ryan Gosling-starring hopecore hit, with a $20,00 cash prize. A special screening in honor of the award will take place on Wednesday, October 28 at 6:30 p.m. at One Letterman in San Francisco.

Anne Lai, SFFILM’s executive director, spoke in a statement about how the Sloan Foundation inspires and helps audiences see how science and technology intertwine in our lives, and via the big screen: “‘Project Hail Mary‘ paints one of the most impossible and imaginative dilemmas in space. And what a rollercoaster we get to go on. This deeply entertaining and emotional film never skirts the scientific process, but instead fully embraces it at every turn. This is exactly what the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative at SFFILM aims to do: celebrate movies that encourage audiences to appreciate and understand science.”

“Project Hail Mary” grossed an astronomically impressive $684 million at the box office, between Amazon MGM on domestic and Sony handling international, plus the IMAX take. Gosling is in the conversation for Best Actor for his portrayal of a scientist marooned alone on a spacecraft, as are Sandra Hüller and James Ortiz, who plays the sage extraterrestrial Rocky.

“We’re delighted to award the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s ‘Project Hail Mary,’ an endearing and inventive adaptation of Andy Weir’s best-selling novel,” said Doron Weber, vice president and program director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “What at first glance may seem like fantasy/science fiction becomes a showcase for real scientific discovery, as the film’s protagonists use physics, astronomy, and microbiology to solve existential problems facing a variety of species. ‘Project Hail Mary’ joins over 900 science and film projects supported by the Sloan Foundation, including previous SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Prize winners like ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Twisters,’ ‘Don’t Look Up,’ ‘Hidden Figures,’ and ‘The Martian.’”

The Sloan Science in Cinema Prize program will feature a special onstage conversation with Academy Award-winning directors and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard, Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor Paul Lambert, co-VFX supervisor Mag Sarnowska, and Academy Award-nominated and winning sound designers/supervising sound editors Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn (E Squared) alongside Dr. Ron Radeztsky, an astrophysical scientist and plasma physicist who served as the astrometric systems modeling engineer for the film.

SFFILM’s director of programming Jessie Fairbanks said, “’Project Hail Mary’ is a thrilling reminder that science and curiosity can be the heart of a great adventure. Phil, Chris, and Drew have created a highly entertaining film that makes scientific discovery feel both joyful and accessible. Buoyed by Ryan Gosling’s effortless charm and James Ortiz’s extraordinary performance as Rocky, ‘Project Hail Mary’ proves that intelligent spectacle can be a delight and an inspiration.”