After Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling's Next Movie Needs To The Sci-Fi Event Of The Decade (& It's 1 Step Closer)

Published Sep 19, 2026, 9:45 AM EDT

Karlis has been obsessing over television and movie news since he first learned how to read. He has worked in tech, as a musician, and in journalism with a well-rounded knowledge base of pop-culture throughout the eras. He claims that he has memorized the entire Internet Movie Database, and to date no one has been able to refute this.
Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Religion and Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University, Karlis loves to examine the intersections of popular science-fiction and culture. His latest novel MASS. is available now on Amazon and examines a world where obesity has become a federal crime.

Project Hail Mary was a huge hit, but the next big science fiction blockbuster that will star Ryan Gosling needs to be an even bigger cultural event and box office juggernaut. Unlike Project Hail Mary, many recent science fiction movies have bombed, as it takes an awfully good hook to get global audiences invested enough to break even.

Reviews helped Project Hail Mary to break through. The film was beloved upon release and told a great character-based story with some fantastic elements of science fiction alongside great visuals. The friendship between Rocky and Grace was a major high point that grounded the emotional elements of the film, helping it to resonate with sci-fi lovers and skeptics alike.

Fortunately, Ryan Gosling's star has only risen over the years. Following the huge successes of both Barbie and Project Hail Mary, Gosling will soon be joining the MCU as Ghost Rider. However, before that film is released, the actor will next be seen in one of the biggest science fiction franchises to date, and pressure is high.

Not every Ryan Gosling movie has been a huge hit. Between the actor's aforementioned successes, The Fall Guy grossed only $181 million and lost money for its studio despite strong reviews. However, there is reason to be hopeful for Gosling's next big science fiction adventure, which is hoped to become the biggest cultural event of 2027.

How Project Hail Mary Became One Of The Decade's Biggest Sci-Fi Movies

Project Hail Mary was a huge hit this year, earning more than $685 million against a budget of $200 million. The film tells the dramatic story of Dr. Ryland Grace, a scientist who is tasked with saving Earth from a destructive organism called Astrophage. To do this, he is sent on a one-way trip into deep space.

The film works as a science fiction adventure story, certainly. However, what kept audiences coming back time and again was the film's strong humor and heart. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, known for their work on The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, the film featured great characters and strong comedy.

Outside of franchise installments, including Avatar: The Way of Water and Dune: Part Two, Project Hail Mary is the highest-grossing science fiction movie of the decade so far. Much of this success was bolstered by strong reviews and marketing that highlighted both the heavy, grounded stakes of the film and its strong characterizations.

Star Wars: Starfighter Should Be Even Bigger Than Project Hail Mary

Ryan Gosling's next science fiction movie, Star Wars: Starfighter, is expected to be an even bigger hit than Project Hail Mary.

While earning more than $685 million is a big ask, there are a few reasons why a new Star Wars film could be able to do so. After all, the bulk of the franchise's films have been enormous hits, with many earning over $1 billion globally.

In addition to Gosling, the creative forces behind Starfighter are also coming off some big wins. Shawn Levy directed Star Wars: Starfighter, and he has had a series of hits in recent years. Beyond his work on Stranger Things, Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine took the record for the highest-grossing R-rated movie before being dethroned by this year's The Odyssey.

Star Wars is among the best-known brands in the entire world, and Disney is putting all of their resources behind this film. However, it is also notable that the brand is not in the place that it was even just a few years ago.

Disney Badly Needs Starfighter To Be A Huge Success For Star Wars' Future

Image via Lucasfilm

In 2015, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, the franchise under Disney's stewardship seemed to be on top of the world. However, in the years since, the series' projects have become increasingly controversial. Star Wars: The Last Jedi caused a real divide in audiences, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker failed to bring them back together.

Each of those films was successful at the box office, certainly, but they also eroded general interest in Star Wars. The franchise's expansion on Disney+ also added to this with too much content and too little quality. While most of the Disney+ show The Mandalorian was well liked, many other projects failed to gain widespread attention and acclaim.

Andor was a critical darling, but it did not have the widespread, family appeal that the franchise has generally aimed for. Shows like The Acolyte and The Book of Boba Fett were generally disliked, and the cost of this became clear earlier this year when Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu's weak box office performance only earned $345 million globally.

Compared to the $1.07 billion that The Rise of Skywalker grossed in 2019, this was certainly a disappointment. However, The Mandalorian and Grogu clearly had lower aims, as it was essentially a big-screen episode of the streaming series. Because of this, and a few other reasons, there is still potential for Starfighter to succeed.

Starfighter's IMAX 70mm Release Is A Great Sign

Starfighter is set to screen in IMAX 70mm, which could be a great asset to the film's success. The format has become incredibly popular in recent years, as it provides the best possible picture resolution on the largest screens in the world. Movies like this year's The Odyssey were enormous hits in the format.

The downside of IMAX 70mm, however, is that there are only a handful of theaters globally that are equipped to screen the format. Still, making a movie available in that format attests to the visual quality of the film, and attests to audiences that it is an important spectacle that must be seen on the best screens possible.

The Odyssey's 70mm screenings sold out far in advance, to such an extent that scalpers sold tickets to the film at inflated prices. Regardless, many audiences waited for however long it took to see the film in the ideal format, which has helped keep The Odyssey a box office mainstay all summer long.

Putting the next Star Wars out in IMAX 70mm is a great move, as it shows some real confidence in the film. Hopefully Starfighter is able to make audiences excited about the Star Wars brand again no matter what format it is viewed in, and it gives Ryan Gosling an even bigger hit than Project Hail Mary.