Why Project Hail Mary’s Original Runtime Was Over Double The Final Cut

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The popular sci-fi movie, Project Hail Mary, has quickly become a success, earning over $100 million in just a few days. While the final version runs 156 minutes, it was originally even longer before some scenes were removed.

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have been very candid about how they made the movie based on Andy Weir’s book, even sharing details about early versions of the film. While Project Hail Mary stays true to the original story, some cuts were unavoidable when bringing it to the big screen.

Project Hail Mary’s Original Cut Was Almost 4 Hours Long

Directors Lord and Miller discussed early versions of their film, Project Hail Mary, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Miller explained that the initial assembly cuts were over four hours long. They eventually shortened it to a three-hour and 45-minute version for the first screening – still over an hour longer than the final movie released in theaters.

The team didn’t explain exactly what footage was removed or the reasons behind it, but it’s common for the first versions of a film to be quite lengthy. These “assembly cuts” are basically all the filmed scenes put together in order, and are only meant for the production team to review. Even so, this initial version turned out to be surprisingly long.

Why The Final Cut Of Project Hail Mary Is So Much Shorter

Project Hail Mary is a fantastic science fiction movie, and it would be fascinating to see any deleted scenes. However, a film lasting over three and three-quarter hours is simply too long for most theaters. Amazon MGM has a major success with this movie, and releasing a longer, more extended version could have risked its performance in cinemas.

Movie runtimes have been increasing lately, and Project Hail Mary falls right in line with most big-budget films. Making it any longer would likely have been exhausting for viewers and disrupted the story’s pacing. While it’s based on a book, most movie adaptations don’t include every single detail from the source material.

The movie Project Hail Mary moves quickly and has a pleasant feel, successfully adapting the novel into a two-and-a-half-hour film. According to the directors, Lord and Miller, scenes that didn’t resonate with test audiences were quickly removed.

Filmmakers often say you need to be willing to cut even your favorite scenes, and that’s particularly true when editing a movie. Lord and Miller did exactly that with Project Hail Mary, thankfully trimming it down to a good length. Sometimes, including too much, even good material, can actually prevent a film from reaching its full potential.

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2026-03-26 20:28