Project Hail Mary: Book vs. Movie
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s 2026 film Project Hail Mary is adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 book of the same name. Both follow Ryland Grace, a science teacher who wakes aboard a distant spacecraft with no memory of his mission to save Earth.
From Books Adapted
What changed from the book
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Grace boards Rocky's ship only in the movie
The movie adapts Weir's full standalone story and adds a visit to Rocky's ship that Grace never makes in the book. Rocky makes him a suit that lets him explore an environment he could not survive unprotected.
The Earth landscapes projected inside the ship are new
The movie fills parts of the ship's interior with projected images of Earth's landscapes. Those images are not in the book.
Weir said they gave the movie more visual variety than the book's succession of scenes in confined rooms. He also described them as something the crew could use to support their mental health during the journey.
How it was adapted
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The movie keeps Grace's final destination
Both versions end with Grace living on Rocky's planet and teaching its children.
Drew Goddard said that ending was among the things he identified early as essential to the adaptation. He expected to have to defend it to studio executives, but kept it in the script.
About the book and the movie
- Author
- Andy Weir
- Year
- 2021
- Pages
- 496Buy book
- Audiobook length
- 16 hr 10 minGet audiobook
- Narrator
- Ray Porter
Ryland Grace wakes alone on a spacecraft, unable to remember his name or why he is there. As his memories return, he pieces together a mission to stop the Sun from dimming and discovers he may not have to solve the problem alone.
- Director
- Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
- Writer
- Drew Goddard
- Year
- 2026
- Runtime
- 2 hr 36 minWatch on Amazon
- Cast
- Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, Lionel Boyce
- Genre
- action, Adventure, Hopecore, science fiction
- IMDb
- View on IMDb
A schoolteacher finds himself far from Earth, tasked with investigating a threat to the Sun. With his memory returning in fragments, he must turn classroom science into practical solutions and learn to work with an unexpected companion.
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