‘Project Hail Mary’ becomes Amazon’s highest-grossing film debut

Project Hail Mary, from Amazon.com Inc.’s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, was the No. 1 film at the US and Canadian box office this weekend with $80.5 million worth of tickets, scoring the highest grossing debut of any movie this year.

The film’s performance in its opening weekend surpassed Creed III as the best for an Amazon title since the company acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022. Industry tracker Boxoffice Pro had forecast sales of at least $70 million. More than a fifth of Project Hail Mary‘s box office came from Imax Corp. screens.

Since closing the MGM deal, which handed Amazon control of film franchises including James Bond and The Pink Panther, the e-commerce conglomerate has pledged to release more than a dozen pictures in cinemas annually before making them available on its Prime Video streaming service. 

Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is adapted from the novel of the same name by Andy Weir. It follows the adventure of biologist-turned-teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who wakes up with amnesia aboard a spacecraft.

The film achieved critical acclaim, and its commercial performance ends a string ...