Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Amazon Studios Finally In Its Prime: “Project Hail Mary” Takes in $12 Mil Previews, Heads to $70 Mil Opening Weekend, Cost $250 Mil

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Amazon Studios finally has a hit.

Forget about “Melania.”

Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “Project Hail Mary” had a home run last night with $12 million in previews.

The Ryan Gosling space fest is headed toward a $70 million weekend.

Amazon never had a hit like this before.

Some of the credit must go to their newish head of global marketing, Sue Kroll, who turned a similar film — “Gravity” — into a massive hit for Warner Bros many moons ago. She knows her way around the cosmos!

“Project Hail Mary” cost at least $250 million. You can see it all on screen. The production is dazzling, including the music. It’s like being in a planetarium show. And that’s what saves it when the story gets bogged down. Also, when the two hour point hits, the production is what keeps you tuned in.

Look for “PJM” to get a lot of awards attention next winter for the below-the-line artisans.

Meantime, the box office should be buzzing this weekend.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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