Project Hail Mary Returns to Streaming Spotlight as 2026 Sci-Fi Race Heats Up

We're just a couple of months away from the biggest date in the 2026 sci-fi calendar. On December 18, the same date as Avengers: Doomsday, Dune: Part Three will cap off Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed trilogy adapting Frank Herbert's Dune novels. Four-time Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides in the Brian K. Vaughan-penned movie, joined by a stacked cast including Zendaya as Chani, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Anya Taylor-Joy as Alia Atreides, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Jason Momoa as Hayt, and many more.

But for Dune: Part Three to perform as some predicted and become the year's best sci-fi film, it faces tough competition from a novel adaptation that took the world by storm earlier this year. Of course, we're talking about arguably the defining film of 2026 so far, Project Hail Mary. The Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-directed film earned near-perfect responses from critics, including a 9/10 review from Collider's Ross Bonaime, who called it "the first great film of 2026."

But Project Hail Mary wasn't just an almighty success in the eyes of critics. In total, the adaptation of the 2021 novel by Andy Weir has earned $682 million worldwide, split between a domestic haul of $344 million and a further $338 million from overseas markets. This helped it become one of the year's earliest blockbuster triumphs, although the likes of Christopher Nolan's historical epic, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day have since stolen that spotlight. But Project Hail Mary has moved seamlessly to streaming, becoming an unsurprising hit in homes around the world. At the time of writing, it has rejoined the Prime Video top ten in the U.S., ranking in ninth place.

Ryan Gosling Has Joined Two More Iconic Franchises

After delivering an arguably career-defining performance in Project Hail Mary, Gosling has his sights set on a galaxy far, far away. He will join director Shawn Levy on the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter, before finally taking the MCU plunge with the same man, who will direct him in a new Ghost Rider film that was announced during Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con 2026.