Josh Gad Calls Ryan Gosling’s PROJECT HAIL MARY the “First Masterpiece” of 2026
We’re still weeks away from the release of Project Hail Mary, but if Josh Gad is to be believed, we might want to start clearing space on our “Best of 2026” lists right now.
The actor took to Instagram after seeing the upcoming Ryan Gosling sci-fi epic, and he didn’t hold back.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first masterpiece of 2026,” Gad wrote on Instagram. “I don’t know how the hell they did it, but [Phil Lord, co-director], [Chris Miller, co-director], [Drew Goddard, screenwriter], [Aditya Sood, producer], along with Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Conner have delivered a PERFECT adaptation of a book I thought was impossible to adapt. The novel by [Andy Weir] is one of my all-time favorites and the movie somehow matches it pound for pound.
“See this @amazonmgmstudios movie on the biggest screen possible. Ryan Gosling has never been better. I cannot wait to see this movie again. It will restore your faith in humanity and the power of love and courage.”
Wow! He walked out of that screening completely fired up!
The film is based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel and follows Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, an astronaut who wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is or why he’s there.
As the sole survivor of a last-ditch mission to save Earth from extinction, Grace slowly pieces together the reality of his situation. Along the way, he forms an unexpected alliance with an alien named Rocky, and together they attempt to finish the job humanity sent him to do.
The creative team behind the film include Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo responsible for 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, and they are directing. They also helped shape the Spider-Verse films, so they know how to balance big ideas with heart and humor.
The screenplay comes from Drew Goddard, who previously adapted Weir’s The Martian into the Oscar-nominated film directed by Ridley Scott. If anyone understands how to translate Weir’s dense science and character-driven storytelling to the screen, it’s Goddard.
For fans of hard sci-fi, this movie has been one of the most anticipated releases on the 2026 movie calendar. Between Gosling leading the charge and Lord and Miller steering the ship, expectations were already high. Gad’s reaction just cranked that anticipation up several notches.
If Project Hail Mary really pulls off what the book did, delivering emotional weight, big science concepts, and a surprisingly moving interstellar friendship, we could be looking at something special.
Project Hail Mary lands in theaters on March 20.