Box Office Report: ‘Project Hail Mary' Scores $80 Million Opening

Some questioned the wisdom of Amazon/MGM choosing to open “Project Hail Mary” in March, rather than the traditionally more lucrative Summer months. Now that the movie is out, nobody’s questioning anymore. The sci-fi adventure, starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, opened to $80 million at the domestic box office and $140 million worldwide. That’s a tremendous start for the $200 million film, and a record opening for Amazon/MGM. It’s also the second-best opening for star Ryan Gosling, short only to 2023’s Barbie, which opened to $162 million.

As a sci-fi epic, “Project Hail Mary” performed well on IMAX and other Premium Large Formats. According to Deadline, IMAX and PLF showings accounted for 54% of the film’s box office returns. With strong reviews and positive word-of-mouth, it’s a safe bet that “Project Hail Mary” will hold on strongly next week. If it can manage a drop in the range of 50% or better, then “Project Hail Mary” will cement its status as a bona fide hit.

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Second place went to the third weekend of “Hoppers,” which fell 37% to $18 million. After 17 days, the Pixar family adventure stands at $120 million domestic and $242 million worldwide, and there’s still plenty of gas left in the tank. In third place, we have “Dhurandhar The Revenge,” a four-hour Indian action movie. The original “Dhurandhar” opened to $1.9 million at 391 theaters. This time around, the sequel beefed up its theater count, to 987 locations and reaped the rewards to the tune of $9.5 million. Add in the $3.9 million it earned on its Thursday opening, and “Dhurandhar The Revenge” scored a $13.5 million four-day opening. Obviously, this one is more of an international play, but after the breakout success of “RRR,” it’s clear that Indian cinema has a foothold in American movie theaters.

In fourth place, there’s the last major new release of the weekend, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” After dropping out of “Scream 7,” directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence moved on from the franchise to do 2024’s “Abigail” before returning to their old stomping grounds with a sequel to their 2019 hit, “Ready or Not.” Despite the years of good will and the rising star power of star Samara Weaving and Radio Silence themselves, this sequel didn’t manage to breakout like some horror sequels do. “Ready or Not 2” opened to $9.1 million ($11.9 million worldwide). While that’s more than the 2019 original’s $8 million opening, it’s probably not enough to justify the $14 million budget of this sequel. Horror movies usually don’t hold on strongly after opening weekend, but the original “Ready or Not” managed to hang on to $28.7 million at the domestic box office (and a healthy $57.6 million worldwide). If the sequel can finish within that range, it will be enough to be considered successful.

Rounding out the top five, there’s “Reminders of Him,” which fell a reasonable 55% in its second weekend, grossing $8 million. After ten days, the tear-jerker from “It Ends With Us” author Colleen Hoover has earned $33 million domestically and $54 million worldwide. After that, we have “Scream 7,” which is the highest-grossing entry in the series both domestically and worldwide. In its latest victory lap, the slasher added $4.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $114 million. Worldwide, the film has raked in $193 million so far, and $200 million is an inevitability at this point.

Next week looks to be a quiet one, with “They Will Kill You” starring Zazie Beetz, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette being the only noteworthy new release. The trailers for that one have been quite buzzy, but it’s hard for me to imagine it breaks out beyond what “Ready or Not 2” accomplished this weekend. For all intents and purposes, the box office belongs to “Project Hail Mary” until “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” opens on Wednesday, April 1.

All numbers come from Box Office Mojo’s weekend estimates

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This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 1:16 PM.