‘Project Hail Mary’ Vs. The Crashing Empires
(ANALYSIS) While many think “primum non nocere” — “First, do no harm” — was an oath created by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, it’s actually found in a top-secret bible handed to Hollywood players when they are placed in charge of the box-office franchises that keep their operations alive.
Just joking. But it would be good if Tinseltown’s principalities and powers chanted those words every now and then, especially before approving outlandish budgets for high-risk sequels that have detailed merchandising strategies before they have solid screenplays.
Anyway, “First, do no harm” was one of the wisecracks I scribbled in my notebook while watching “Project Hail Mary” in a dark, crowded theater. I couldn’t believe that I was watching, you know, a movie that didn’t make glaring mistakes.
At this point, the sci-fi hit led by superstar Ryan Gosling (he was also lead producer) is nearing $600 million at the global box office, which is an impressive number, but not in the same league as the 60+ movies that cleared $1 billion.
Still, “Project Hail Mary” has demonstrated that ordinary moviegoers will buy tickets to see an exciting, heartwarming flick (featuring a superstar) that doesn’t swamp them with images and sermons that could be included in talking points for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Project Hail Mary,” of course, is an original movie built on an intelligent, popular bestseller of the same name, written by Andy Weir, who also helped craft the movie. That’s a curve ball in this age in which it seems like 75% of the stuff lined up at multiplexes (or streaming on digital platforms) are attempts to cash in on familiar franchises, some of which have been around for decades.
Yes, I think it’s time for another update on a theme at the heart of the Rational Sheep project. I am talking, once again, about how changes in digital technology are turning Hollywood business models inside out at the same time that the Internet is carving deep, dangerous gashes in the body politic.
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Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.