Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi epic Project Hail Mary from Amazon MGM Studios had a huge $12 million in Thursday previews. This is the highest preview gross of 2026 so far and the second-highest ever for a movie that isn’t a sequel. This huge opening, which was even better than Oppenheimer’s previews, shows that a lot of people are excited to see the movie version of Andy Weir’s best-selling book, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The $12 million total comes from $8.5 million from Thursday night shows, $3 million from early Monday access screenings, and $0.5 million from 70mm previews the weekend before. Friday brought in another $19–21 million, bringing the total to $33 million on opening day (including previews). Analysts now expect a $71–80 million opening weekend in the US, breaking Amazon MGM’s previous records like Creed III and topping the charts for 2026.
Ryan Gosling is about to have his second-best opening weekend, beating out recent movies like The Fall Guy ($27.7M) and Blade Runner 2049 ($32.7M) after Barbie’s $162 million debut. The movie, which stars Sandra Hüller, booked 4,000 screens, including all IMAX and premium formats. This boosted premium ticket sales and set it up for a possible $250 million domestic run with strong word-of-mouth.
About the author
Daya Nanoskar is an Entertainment Writer at Awesome TV and a contributor to AWSM Times. Daya covers film news, streaming releases, celebrity updates and industry news across Hollywood and Bollywood, and has written more than 2,300 stories for Awesome TV. Story tips and corrections: hello@awesometv.com.
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