Why Amazon MGM Studios needed a ‘Hail Mary’

It was a big weekend for “Project Hail Mary” — and by extension, Amazon MGM Studios.

The sci-fi film starring Ryan Gosling as a reluctant science teacher-turned-astronaut tasked with saving the planet made $80.5 million in its domestic launch, a massive haul that beat expectations and marked the highest opening weekend so far this year.

Only one other original, non-franchise film in the last 10 years has made more than $80 million in the U.S. and Canada in its first outing — Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” in 2023, which brought in about $82.5 million.

Globally, “Project Hail Mary” has made about $140.9 million, benefiting from strong reviews from critics and audiences alike. The film cost about $190 million to produce.

Amazon MGM had high expectations leading into the weekend, but “Hail Mary’s” strong launch came as a pleasant surprise to even the studio, Kevin Wilson, head of domestic theatrical distribution, told me Monday. He attributed the movie’s success to its “humanity and hope,” as well as Gosling’s star power and directing by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

“The theatrical marketplace is tough, and the bar is really high,” he said. “Giving exhibition a movie of this size and proving that our team can release a huge film in theaters was really important for us, and an early step in … what we want to do at Amazon MGM.”

“Project Hail Mary” is the first big, global theatrical bet from Amazon, four years after it acquired the historic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. The $8.45-billion deal gave Amazon a library of more than 4,000 movies and storied franchises including “James Bond,” “Rocky” and “The Pink Panther.”

Until now, Amazon MGM hadn’t made much of a dent at the box office.

In fact, the Culver City-based studio — which garnered early critical success with such movies as 2016’s Oscar-winning “Manchester by the Sea” — has largely churned out mid-budget films with a mixed record of success.

Its 2025 #MeToo drama “After the Hunt,” which had an all-star cast of Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, made just $3.3 million domestically and $9.4 million worldwide. Films such as 2024’s “Challengers,” which starred Zendaya, the Jason Statham-led “The Beekeeper” and even last year’s “The Accountant 2” fared better, scoring decent returns in the U.S. and Canada.

Those are the kinds of films that used to make up the backbone of the industry and drew in audiences between the big tentpole hits. They’re also the kinds of films that have increasingly disappeared from theaters as studios focus on buzzy “event” movies or blockbusters.

Releasing a massive film like “Project Hail Mary” was an important move for Amazon MGM and an example of the type of big, bold swings the studio wants to make.

“Project Hail Mary’s big budget spend is all about Amazon trying to leverage theatrical legitimacy and audience trust in the MGM brand,” Exhibitor Relations senior box office analyst Jeff Bock told me. “This film is what hopes to be a launchpad for MGM’s entire slate of 2026 films — something they have been incubating since Amazon purchased it.”

Amazon MGM hasn’t been shy about its theatrical ambitions.

At last year’s CinemaCon trade conference for theater owners, the studio started its first-ever presentation at the gathering with a trailer for “Project Hail Mary,” then brought Gosling, Lord and Miller on stage to build excitement around the film. Amazon MGM plans to release 13 films in theaters this year and has said it will boost that number to 15 movies by 2027. It’s also building out an international distribution arm.

Former Sony film chief Amy Pascal and “Harry Potter” producer David Heyman have taken the reins of the next James Bond film as its new producers, though no release date has been announced.

“There’s always skepticism around a traditional streaming company saying they want to get into the theatrical business,” Wilson said. “We can talk and say we’re going to do this, but the importance of showing it is what people and what exhibitors are really interested in.”

He declined to disclose how long “Project Hail Mary” will be shown exclusively in theaters — a particularly sticky topic for exhibitors in recent years — but said the studio knows it’s a movie that “has the ability to play in theaters for a long time” and that Amazon MGM wants to “protect that.” The film is also playing in Imax and has had 70-mm showings.

Wilson said “Project Hail Mary” has been embraced by cinema chains and marks “a great first step in us proving that we’re going to deliver a lot of big movies to their theaters long term.”

That commitment to theatrical releases is more important than ever to an industry that has seen a shrinking number of films in theaters, particularly after studio consolidations.

With the upcoming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, studios and exhibitors have become even more concerned about the quantity of theatrical movies. (Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has said the combined company will produce 30 films a year — 15 from each studio, though many in the business say that is a tall order.)

Whether Amazon MGM can prove itself as a steady and reliable theatrical option remains to be seen, but a hit like “Project Hail Mary” is certainly an auspicious sign.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Los Angeles lost 42,000 jobs in the motion picture sector between 2022 and 2024, partially due to production fleeing overseas, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That figure was shared by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) at a news conference last week in Burbank, where he called for a federal tax incentive for film and television production.

California boosted its own state tax credit program last year, and while Schiff said those changes are helping to lure productions back, it’s not enough, my colleague Cerys Davies reported.

What I’m watching

It’s the end of March, which means I was parked on my couch (or at Pauley Pavilion) to watch March Madness for the men’s and women’s tournaments.

On the men’s side, my favorite watch was Cal Baptist nearly taking down No. 4 Kansas.

On the women’s side, I was in Westwood to see UCLA play Cal Baptist and after a first half that was kind of touch-and-go, I was relieved to see the Bruins finally get it together.