Project Hail Mary Author Shrugs Off Trailer Spoiler Fears — Ryan Gosling Sci-Fi Isn’t Hiding a Darth Vader-Level Twist
Panic is trending, but The Martian author Andy Weir isn’t worried. While others brace for disruption, he’s doubling down on sharp science, scrappy heroes, and a streak of optimism to power the next big story.
So, yes, the new Project Hail Mary trailer shows the alien. And author Andy Weir is not clutching pearls about it. He says that reveal was a deliberate call by the studio, not some accidental spoiler dump, and honestly, he sounds pretty comfortable with the choice.
The short version: the trailer introduces Rocky, the alien buddy Ryan Gosling's character teams up with. In the book, Rocky pops up as a surprise discovery — the marketing for the 2021 novel kept him under wraps. The movie is going the opposite way and putting him front and center. Why? Because Amazon MGM thinks most people walking into the theater will already know Rocky exists, and the studio would rather sell the movie on the thing fans will be talking about anyway. This isn’t a twist-on-the-level-of-that-Star-Wars-thing; it’s a core piece of the story.
Weir backs the move and says he trusts the adaptation. The script is by Drew Goddard, who previously adapted Weir's The Martian, so the guy knows his way around a stranded-in-space narrative. And the movie itself comes from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, so expect a big, polished swing rather than a tiny, cautious one.
'All trailers are designed to put butts in seats, and we want those butts in those seats. We want people to go, Now I want to know what’s going on.'
If you missed the premise tucked between all the trailer money shots: Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher with a doctorate in molecular biology who ends up (reluctantly) on a mission to figure out why the sun is dying. In other words, he’s the guy who didn’t ask to save the world, but here we are.
Mark your calendar: Project Hail Mary lands in theaters on March 20, 2026.
- What the trailer shows: Rocky, the alien partner, is officially out in the open
- Why that’s not a spoiler: it’s a central story element, not a twist, and fans of the book already know
- Who’s making it: Amazon MGM is backing; Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are behind the film
- Who wrote it: Drew Goddard adapted Weir’s novel (he also adapted The Martian)
- Who’s starring: Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a teacher/PhD stuck with a save-the-sun problem
- Release date: March 20, 2026