Project Hail Mary Opens to $80.6M, Best Amazon MGM Debut
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- Project Hail Mary earned $33.1M in Friday/previews and is on track for a $80.6M domestic opening, with worldwide near $141M — the best MPA opening of 2026 so far
- The Amazon MGM Studios release marks the studio's best domestic opening ever and the biggest debut for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, ahead of The Lego Movie's $69M
- Ryan Gosling's PG-13 sci-fi film posted the second-best domestic start for a non-franchise movie after Oppenheimer ($82.4M) and the best non-franchise March opening, topping Us ($71M)
- IMAX and PLFs drove 54% of North American sales, with IMAX alone accounting for 22% of the weekend; EntTelligence reported 5 million attendees at an average $15.53 general / $18.89 PLF ticket
- The marketing blitz included a 400M+ view first trailer (biggest launch ever for a non-franchise/non-sequel), Super Bowl LX and Winter Olympics integrations, Gosling's SNL appearance, and NASA/JPL partnerships
- Dhurandhar: The Revenge set a North American opening-weekend record for a Bollywood film at $9.57M, beating 2023's Pathaan ($6.9M three-day, $9.5M five-day)
Why it matters: For Amazon MGM Studios, a $80.6M opening — the studio's best ever — validates theatrical as a strategic priority and gives the streamer-meets-theater model a fresh blueprint. The film's IMAX/PLF dominance (54% of sales) plus its PG-13 rating and $141M global start prove that original, non-franchise sci-fi can still command premium screens and pricing at scale.
