The best movies like Project Hail Mary are The Martian, Apollo 13, Gravity, Moon, Arrival, Contact, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Enemy Mine, Interstellar, Hidden Figures, Galaxy Quest, and First Man. Each one has the science, the survival, or the first contact of Project Hail Mary.
Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher played by Ryan Gosling, who wakes up on a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. An alien microbe is dimming the Sun, and he meets an alien engineer he names Rocky. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed it from Andy Weir's novel. The list is grouped by what you loved most about it.
Stranded, and solving it with science
The Martian (2015)
An astronaut, played by Matt Damon, is left behind on Mars and has to survive until a rescue can reach him. He's a botanist, so he grows potatoes in his habitat. Ridley Scott directed it from Andy Weir's novel, and Drew Goddard, who also wrote Project Hail Mary, wrote the screenplay. It's the closest match on this list.
Apollo 13 (1995)
A 1970 moon mission goes wrong, and the team on the ground has to find a way to bring three astronauts home. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton star, and Ron Howard directed it. It's based on the book Lost Moon by astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. It's real problem-solving under pressure.
Gravity (2013)
Two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, are cut loose in orbit after their shuttle is destroyed. Alfonso Cuarón directed it, and it won seven Academy Awards, including Best Director. It's one long, tense trip home.
Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell plays a man finishing a three-year solo shift mining on the far side of the Moon, with only a station computer called GERTY for company. Duncan Jones directed it. Like Project Hail Mary, it's a mystery about who you are and why you're there.
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First contact
Arrival (2016)
Alien ships land around the world, and a linguist, played by Amy Adams, is asked to find a way to talk to them before tensions lead to war. Denis Villeneuve directed it from Ted Chiang's novella Story of Your Life. It's the movie to watch if the translation scenes with Rocky were your favorite part.
Contact (1997)
A scientist, played by Jodie Foster, picks up a signal of prime numbers coming from the star Vega. Robert Zemeckis directed it from Carl Sagan's novel. It's about science, faith, and what it would mean to find out we're not alone.
A blue-collar worker in Indiana, played by Richard Dreyfuss, sees a UFO and can't stop thinking about it. Steven Spielberg wrote and directed it, and humans and aliens greet each other with a five-note musical phrase. It's the classic about wonder.
Enemy Mine (1985)
A human pilot and an alien pilot from opposite sides of a war crash on the same hostile planet, and they have to work together to survive. Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. star, and Wolfgang Petersen directed it from Barry B. Longyear's novella. It's a friendship across species, like Grace and Rocky.
Big ideas with a lot of heart
Interstellar (2014)
With Earth failing, a pilot played by Matthew McConaughey and a team of astronauts go through a wormhole to find humanity a new home. Christopher Nolan directed it, with Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. It pairs hard science with a story about a father and his daughter.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Three Black mathematicians, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, work at NASA during the space race. Theodore Melfi directed it from Margot Lee Shetterly's book. It's about the people who do the math that gets astronauts home.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The cast of an old sci-fi TV show is pulled into a real space war by aliens who think the show was a documentary. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman star, and it won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It's the funniest pick here.
First Man (2018)
Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong in the years leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing. Damien Chazelle directed it from James R. Hansen's book. If you want more Gosling in a spacesuit, this is the quieter, true-story version.
Where to start
If you want the same author and the same kind of problem-solving, start with The Martian. If the friendship with Rocky is what stayed with you, watch Enemy Mine. For first contact, go with Arrival. For a laugh, pick Galaxy Quest.
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Frequently asked questions
The Martian, Apollo 13, Gravity, and Moon are about surviving in space by working the problem. Arrival, Contact, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Enemy Mine are about meeting aliens. Interstellar, Hidden Figures, Galaxy Quest, and First Man round out the list.
Yes. It's based on Andy Weir's 2021 novel Project Hail Mary. Weir also wrote The Martian, and Drew Goddard wrote the screenplays for both movies.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed it, and Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, with Sandra Hüller.
The Martian comes from Andy Weir's novel, Arrival from Ted Chiang's novella, Contact from Carl Sagan's novel, and Enemy Mine from Barry B. Longyear's novella. Apollo 13, Hidden Figures, and First Man are based on nonfiction books.
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