Sci-fi adventure film Project Hail Mary is out now in theatres.
Based on American author Andy Weir’s namesake bestselling
2021 novel, the movie follows astronaut Dr Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who
wakes up to find himself on an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of why
he’s on it.
Eventually, the science teacher recalls that he is on a
mission to save earth from freezing due to the sun’s energy getting drained by
the mysterious parasite Astrophage.
It was revealed that actor Ryan was approached for the film
during the book’s manuscript stage, and was drawn to it due to its optimistic
message about human beings’ capability of making the impossible possible, as
well as the power of friendship.
“The film is about the sun dying, but it’s also deeply
hopeful,” he said in an interview.
“It supports the idea that we’re capable of solving
impossible problems, that if we don’t give up, miracles are possible,” he
added.
This is not the actor’s first time going to space on screen.
He previously starred in the 2018 biographical drama First Man, which tells the
story of Neil Armstrong’s trip to the moon.
He is also set to be in director Shawn Levy’s space opera
film Star Wars: Starfighter, which is expected to release next year.
The new release marks directors Phil Lord and Christopher
Miller’s return to the big screen after 12 years, with their last one being 22
Jump Street (2014).
“We just really fell in love with Andy’s novel and the idea
of doing this with Ryan. There was something about this book, the spectacle of
it, the problem-solving, the relationship at the centre,” Phil explained.
“It felt like the type of thing where we could get the awe,
wonder and spectacle and bigness of why we go to the movies. And then the
intimacy of these relationships that make you cry and laugh at the same time.
Hopefully, we can get you feeling both in the exact same moment,” Christopher
added.
