Ryan Gosling’s ‘Project Hail Mary’ Praised as “Perfect” and the “First Masterpiece of 2026” by Josh Gad

Some movies instantly generate a lot of positive attention, and that seems to be happening with Ryan Gosling’s new film. Despite being a month away from release, the sci-fi movie has already been called the “first masterpiece of 2026” – a claim made by actor Josh Gad, who appears to be a big fan.

Ryan Gosling’s latest film, hitting theaters a year before he joins the Star Wars universe, comes out on March 20th. In The Fall Guy star’s new movie, he plays Rylance Grace, a man who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he’s there. He soon meets an alien named Rocky, and together they try to finish the important mission he was originally sent to complete. Even before the film’s release, Gad shared his excitement on Instagram, calling it a “perfect” adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel.

Everyone, I’m thrilled to call this the first truly exceptional film of 2026. I have no idea how they pulled it off, but the team – Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Drew Goddard, Aditya Sood, Amy Pascal, and Rachel O’Connor – have created a flawless movie adaptation of a book I always believed was unadaptable. The original novel by Andy Weir is a personal favorite, and this film lives up to it in every way.

Don’t miss this film from @amazonmgmstudios – it’s best experienced on the largest screen you can find! Ryan Gosling delivers a career-best performance, and it’s a movie you’ll want to see again and again. It’s truly inspiring and a heartwarming reminder of the strength of love and bravery.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Has Already Received Praise from Its Author

It’s not surprising that an author wouldn’t criticize a film adaptation of their book before it comes out, but Andy Weir has been enthusiastically positive about the movie version of Project Hail Mary. He shared last summer that he was “extremely pleased” with the early cut he’d seen, stating:

I’ve seen early versions of the film, and it’s fantastic. The directors are incredibly talented – everyone agrees. I’m thrilled with how it all came together, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We were fortunate to work with Drew Goddard, though we had to wait several months for him to complete his other commitments.

The movie clearly benefits from a talented cast and crew, which is especially important considering how many people doubted the novel could be adapted into a successful film, as Gad pointed out. However, the confirmed runtime of 2 hours and 36 minutes has drawn some criticism. While book fans believe this length is necessary to faithfully tell the story, some moviegoers are hoping for a return to shorter, 1 hour and 45-minute films in Hollywood.

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Look, Hollywood isn’t afraid of long movies. For nearly a hundred years, we’ve had epic films like Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music, Giant, and Lawrence of Arabia that needed that runtime to tell their stories properly. And that’s what I appreciate about Project Hail Mary. It doesn’t feel like they chopped out huge chunks of the book just to get under a certain length. Instead, it feels like they really tried to bring the best version of the book to the screen, and that meant letting the story breathe, even if it meant a longer movie.

2026-02-19 18:34

‘Project Hail Mary’ Has Already Received Praise from Its Author

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