Project Hail Mary Early Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Already Better Than the Sci-fi Masterpiece That Came Before It

The hype train has been full speed ahead on the upcoming sci-fi adaptation Project Hail Mary, with the Ryan Gosling-starring movie earning rave reactions in early screenings. It’s no surprise, really. Gosling has long been a fan-favorite performer, and he’s acting in a film from the directors of The LEGO Movie; it’s clearly a winning combination. With ten days to go before the movie officially launches, though, the review embargo has officially lifted on the film, and in case a lift that early wasn’t already a show of confidence, the reviews are glowing.

As of this writing, Project Hail Mary is holding on to a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 64 total reviews added to the site. A score that high is the best for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller since 2014’s The LEGO Movie (which has a 96%), but more importantly is currently Ryan Gosling’s highest-rated movie of all-time, higher than Barbie (88%), Half Nelson (91%), and Drive (93%). Even more impressive, though, is that Project Hail Mary is sitting well above 2015’s The Martian, the last adaptation of an Andy Weir novel that became a blockbuster hit and an Oscar contender.

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Project Hail Mary Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Near-Perfect

It’s worth noting that, of course, Project Hail Mary‘s Rotten Tomatoes score will fluctuate, as reviews continue to be added and more critics see the film ahead of its launch at the end of the month. Right now, though, the film’s 95% approval rating is well ahead of The Martian‘s 91%, which it holds with 385 total reviews. As fans may recall, the 2015 film starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott was a massive hit, grossing over $630 million at the global box office, which allowed it to march toward seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Now there are a few distinctions already between The Martian and Project Hail Mary that mean the two films won’t necessarily have the same level of impact on the box office or even next year’s awards season. One thing that’s worth remembering is that The Martian, despite largely being about Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney, was also very much an ensemble movie about the plan to rescue him. The film boasted an impressive cast that also included Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover, and Benedict Wong.

Project Hail Mary, on the otherhand, is also largely about Ryan Gosling’s character, Ryland Grace. Though it has an ensemble as well, the level of audience recognition isn’t the same, as the second human lead of the film is Sandra Hüller of Anatomy of a Fall fame. As a result, it’s unclear if audiences will be as sold on a film with less star power. Despite this, Project Hail Mary does have a secret weapon up its sleeve, the lovable Eridian alien, Rocky, who Gosling has to share the screen with for most of the movie. Brought to life through practical effects and voiced by his lead puppeteer, the general public’s reaction to Rocky could make the film a pop culture sensation.

Time will tell, though, as we still have ten days before Project Hail Mary even debuts to the public. Early buzz was strong for the film, though, and now the reviews themselves are starting to back it up. Could Amazon-MGM finally have a major hit on its hands? To date, their highest-grossing movies globally are Red One with $185.9 million and The Beekeeper with $162 million. Surely the power of Ryan Gosling in his best-reviewed movie, with a hilarious alien sidekick, can push Project Hail Mary higher than that.