Amazon’s New Andy Weir Sci-Fi Film Reportedly Has Twice The Finances Of Ridley Scott’s The Martian

Amazon MGM’s new sci-fi film enterprise is reportedly a wildly costly one.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Mission Hail Mary, based mostly on Andy Weir’s (the writer of The Martian) 2021 novel of the identical title, stars Ryan Gosling as a lone astronaut with no reminiscence from earlier than the mission, who should forestall the solar from dying so as to save Earth. The film’s solid additionally consists of Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub.

A brand new report from Puck reveals precisely how huge this enterprise is, as Matthew Belloni refers to Mission Hail Mary as a “practically $200 million-budgeted” film, additionally calling it “the closest factor to a franchise-free, one-and-done international blockbuster that Hollywood has tried since Tenet in 2020.” Belloni clarifies that the film’s gross finances was $248 million, “in accordance with an inside Amazon doc,” earlier than tax credit introduced it down.

Primarily based on these numbers and the final rule of thumb {that a} film must make 2.5x its finances to account for advertising and marketing prices, Mission Hail Mary most likely must make $500 million to $600 million to interrupt even. This isn’t essentially unattainable, wanting on the numbers for the closest comparable challenge: 2015’s The Martian, which grossed $630 million worldwide.

Starring Matt Damon as an astronaut by chance left behind on Mars who should survive till somebody involves retrieve him, The Martian was a runaway success, which went on to be nominated for seven Oscars. Nevertheless, with an estimated finances of $108 million, grossing greater than $600 million means it was extremely worthwhile, whereas it might be solely modestly commercially profitable for Mission Hail Mary.

Can Mission Hail Mary really attain this benchmark? Belloni factors out that F1, final 12 months’s authentic motion blockbuster, grossed over $600 million, however was based mostly round an iconic model. The Martian, very importantly, got here out earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic; these days, even one of the best authentic films usually do not carry out in addition to sequels or variations of beloved IPs.

Even Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a continuation of a beloved sci-fi thriller franchise, utterly flopped on the field workplace in 2024 due to an inflated finances. Mission Hail Mary is presently projected to have a home opening of $50 million, and Belloni predicts that it might match The Housemaid‘s gross of $385 million — which might be an enormous loss for Amazon MGM.

Mission Hail Mary has among the parts to grow to be a serious blockbuster, together with a well known solid and an adventurous premise that guarantees spectacle, in addition to a PG-13 score that makes it accessible to a broader viewers. It should want good word-of-mouth to get off the bottom, and Guillermo del Toro not less than gave Mission Hail Mary a glowing overview. Nevertheless, it’s obvious that this can be an uphill battle for the brand new sci-fi journey.

Mission Hail Mary releases in theaters on March 20, 2026.