Ryan Gosling Has Officially Left For Space

Hollywood A-lister Ryan Gosling has left the surface of the earth. Again. But this time, it's not for a Barbie's dreamhouse or to find an alternate reality for his Blade Runner 2049 character to feel more human and less humanoid.

It is for the sun. Yeah the brightest object in our sky. Shocking, isn't it?

In the official trailer for Project Hail Mary, Gosling slips into the space suit of Ryland Grace- a middle school science teacher turned last-hope astronaut who wakes up alone in a spaceship, light years from home, with only flickers of memory and a ticking cosmic clock. No pressure.

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But who can tell it's the handsome star who played Noah Calhoun in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel The Notebook alongside Rachel McAdams years ago. In the latest film that is set for a theatrical release next year, the actor looks a little realistically disoriented astronaut with his sleepy-eyed, unshaven beard, long blonde hair floating somewhere between "accidental hero" and "man on the verge of discovery".

A man who has gone from teaching 12-year-olds photosynthesis to one in charge of saving the human race from extinction as he travels to the Tau Ceti system about 11.9 light-years away.

"I am not an astronaut. I have never worn a spacesuit. I don't even know how to moonwalk." protests reluctant Ryland Grace to the NASA team in the film. Next thing we know, Harry Styles' debut single Sign of The Times is blasting him off to the space.

If you find yourself wondering whether that's sort of like Interstellar you are wrong. Directed by The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street and Spider-Verse visionaries Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary is based on writer Andy Weir's best-selling novel. Yeah, it's the same guy who wrote the potato-growing astronaut in space, The Martian.

This time the astronaut is a former middle-school science teacher with a doctorate in molecular biology. Suddenly, he awakens aboard a spaceship with amnesia, unsure how he got there or what the mission entails. Later, he discovers he is the last hope for humanity as the sun is dimming due to alien microbe known as 'astrophage' that threatens to destroy Earth within decades.

And yes- there's an alien. A very real, very tentacled creature named Rocky who the astronaut connects with. The film blends high-stakes sci-fi with intelligent humour, emotional beats and touching portrayal of unlikely companionship.

The supporting cast includes Sandra Huller (fresh off Anatomy of a Fall) as the commanding Eva Stratt, Lionel Boyce from the chef series The Bear. But this is Ryan's orbit and rightly, all eyes are on him-floating through a silent galaxy, hair slightly too good for a cryogenic coma, trying to remember how Earth even got here in the first place.

Also, one can expect compelling visuals for a Sci-fi film from Project Hail Mary as its been shot in IMAX by none other than the Dune acclaimed cinematographer Greig Fraser.

Project Hail Mary is set for a worldwide premiere on March 20, 2026.