‘Project Hail Mary’ Directors Announce In-Theater Director Commentary Track, Here’s How it Works

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Good news for those who loved Project Hail Mary! Now, while you’re watching the movie, you can listen to a director’s commentary through a new phone app, delivered directly to your headphones. Co-director Phil Lord revealed the news on X.

Here’s another fun way to experience #ProjectHailMary in cinemas! There’s an app that actually works with the movie – pretty neat!

— Phil Lord (@philiplord) April 3, 2026

Lord explained that the project isn’t about scholarly analysis, but about enjoying the excitement of the movie again. He compared it to the extra content often included on DVDs, something you don’t see as much anymore now that studios are focusing on streaming and digital copies.

How to Hear the Commentary Track

To listen to the commentary for Project Hail Mary, download the free TheaterEars app. You can find it on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Although TheaterEars is usually used to dub English movies into Spanish, this is the first time it’s being used to offer commentary during a movie in theaters.

TheaterEars asks users to sign up for an account and confirms their location to ensure they’re at the right movie theater and showtime. It also needs access to the microphone to provide synchronized audio. To start listening to a commentary track, users just open the app and select it before the movie begins.

A “Most Excellent” Film

The new Ryan Gosling movie from Amazon MGM Studios has proven to be a big hit, earning much more money than expected. It made $80.5 million in the United States and Canada during its opening weekend, plus another $60.4 million internationally – significantly better than initial forecasts. The film has continued to perform well since then.

Currently, 86% of Criticless users rate Project Hail Mary as “Most Excellent,” with 196 total ratings. A standout review highlights the movie’s successful combination of realistic science fiction, heartfelt emotion, and enjoyable entertainment, specifically praising its practical effects and impressive visuals. The new commentary track will likely delve into how these effects were created.

Gosling explained that the movie aimed to get people excited about going to the cinema again. Considering how many people now wait to watch films at home, through streaming or video-on-demand, that might be Project Hail Mary‘s biggest success.

The Theatrical Strategy

I was at the IMAX screening the other night, and Ryan Gosling really laid it all out there. He thinks Project Hail Mary is the most challenging film he’s ever taken on. He admitted, when they first discussed it, it seemed completely unrealistic – but the story was just too good to pass up. He was clearly thrilled to say, after six years of work, they actually pulled it off and got it into theaters. And he made a really compelling point: it’s not up to the audience to keep theaters afloat, it’s up to filmmakers to create experiences that make going to the movies worthwhile.

People seem to be enjoying the film so much they’re seeing it again and again, so the recent changes appear to be successful. The new commentary might even bring previous viewers back to the theater for another showing.

Back to Basics

The movie Project Hail Mary, directed by Lord and Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, initially drew audiences to theaters. Now, a new commentary feature is giving some viewers a reason to revisit the film – not through visual spectacle, but through an app offering insights from the filmmakers about how it was made.

If this works well, we might see the same technique used in future movies. More importantly, it shows that the most straightforward solutions are often the most effective.

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2026-04-07 14:57