Ryan Gosling’s New Epic Sci-Fi Sets All-Time Career Rotten Tomatoes Audience Record, Finally Beating His 26-Year-Old Classic

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Project Hail Mary is pulling off a record-breaking Rotten Tomatoes performance.

Scheduled for release in 2026, Project Hail Mary is a film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, based on the 2021 novel by Andy Weir—the author of The Martian. The story centers on Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a former science teacher, who unexpectedly forms a connection with an alien as they work together to save the sun—and humanity—from a mysterious, deadly substance.

Even though Project Hail Mary isn’t releasing widely until March 20th, early screenings have generated over 1,000 positive audience reviews. This has allowed Rotten Tomatoes to calculate an official audience score, currently at a remarkable 98%, though this number could change as more reviews come in.

This is the highest Popcornmeter score ever for a Ryan Gosling film. It surpasses his previous best, Remember the Titans (93%) from 2000, by a full five points. This gives the new film a bit of a buffer, meaning it can still hold the top spot even if its score decreases a little after its initial release.

Just one week after achieving a similar feat on the Tomatometer, Project Hail Mary has now set a new record on the Popcornmeter. The film earned a ‘Certified Fresh’ score of 95% on the Tomatometer, making it Ryan Gosling’s highest-rated movie by critics, surpassing the 93% score of his 2011 film, Drive.

The movie’s fantastic Popcornmeter score isn’t just due to a large number of positive reviews – people are actually loving it. Even if most viewers had given it a decent 3 out of 5 stars, it still would have broken records. But the reality is even better: almost all the scores it’s received are 4 or 5 out of 5.

Whether the initial excitement translates into big ticket sales for Project Hail Mary is still unknown. However, according to Box Office Theory, the movie’s early predictions from March 13th were already promising for a film based on a new story.

The movie is expected to open domestically with between $50 and $65 million, which would likely be the biggest opening weekend of 2026, surpassing the $63.6 million debut of Scream 7. But if early reviews generate positive buzz, it could significantly exceed those initial expectations.

The early success of Project Hail Mary is encouraging, considering the film’s estimated $200 million production cost. To recoup that investment – and potentially earn a profit – it likely needs to make around $450 million in total, so a strong opening weekend is crucial.

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2026-03-17 17:38