“The Project that Honors Mary” was at the top of the box office for two consecutive weekends, bringing in $54.5 million from the sky. There have been hits in 2026, such as “Scream 7” and “Hoppers,” but “Project Hail Mary” continues to be the year’s true number one hit, having earned $164.3 million domestically.
“Project Hail Mary” only dropped 32% from its first week, indicating that the film will have staying power. Its impressive results are exciting news for Amazon MGM, which invests heavily in movie theaters by committing to releasing about a dozen movies a year. The move comes after Amazon MGM struggled to define its filmmaking ambitions, first focusing on indie productions, then moving to first-run premieres before opting to bring back populist cash aimed at the big screen.
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“Project Hail Mary” also confirms Ryan Gosling’s box office bona fides. The Oscar-nominated star of “Barbie” and “La La Land” is front and center in the film as a school teacher determined to save the world. The film rises or falls on Gosling’s lead role and is rewarded with one of the biggest hits of his career, as well as some early awards talks. And there’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who bounced back from being fired from “Solo: A Star Wars Story” to provide crowd-pleasers that prove they can handle live-action space epics, thank you very much. Not to mention Andy Weir, the author behind “Project Hail Mary” and “The Martian,” whose books have now inspired two box office winners. His next story almost sparked a fight for film rights.
The new release of the weekend, “They Will Kill You,” was DOA, earning an anemic $5 million domestically from 2,778 locations for third place. The Warner Bros. and New Line release cost just $20 million to produce, but it’s still a shocking hit because the studios have to split ticket sales with movie theater owners. Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy helped put together “Project Hail Mary” during their run at MGM. Having left the studio to head Warner Bros., they enjoyed a hot run at the box office last year, with the likes of “The Sinners,” “The Minecraft Movie” and “Weapons” doing well at the box office. But 2026 started badly for De Luca and Abdy. “They’re Gonna Kill You” comes just weeks after “The Bride,” the $90 million steamy remake of “Bride of Frankenstein,” exploded, earning a dangerous $23.2 million worldwide.
“They Will Kill You” stars Zazie Beetz as a janitor hired to clean a high-rise apartment with a history of mysterious disappearances. Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham, Tom Felton and Myha’la star in the film, which was directed and co-written by Kirill Sokolov. Nocturna Pictures, the label behind David Ellison’s Skydance and “It” filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti, financed the picture. Ellison has a deal to buy Warner Bros. and merge it with Paramount, which he bought last year. For Warner executives, it helps that their new boss has some responsibility for their recent changes. Furthermore, “They’ll Kill You” isn’t just the latest horror movie that’s struggling to attract crowds. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” entered its second week of release, earning $4 million to push Searchlight Pictures’ production to $16.3 million domestically.
Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers” took second place for the week, taking in another $12.2 million. In its first four weeks of release, the family film is expected to gross $138.6 million in North America and $297.6 million worldwide. “Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge,” the Bollywood actioner, landed in fourth place with $4.7 million, pushing its domestic total to $22.8 million and barely outpacing “They Will Kill You” despite showing about 2,000 fewer projections.
Rounding out the top five on Friday was “Her Memories” with $4.7 million domestically, bringing the total to $41.1 million. Universal brought the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s love story up to $25 million.
In limited release, Focus Features launched “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” a look at the dangers and potential of artificial intelligence from the filmmakers behind “Navalny” and “Everything Everywhere Once.” It grossed $650,000 at 786 locations. Neon also produced “Alpha,” a physical horror film from “Titane’s” Julia Ducournau that earned more than $121,000 from 218 screenings.
Universal also revived 2001’s “The Mummy Returns.” The action-adventure film grossed $600,000 from 1,300 locations, pushing its total to $202.7 million. The studio is relaunching the franchise and signing up original stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz for a new sequel.
“Project Hail Mary” should soon have company in the blockbuster category. Next weekend brings “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” Universal’s latest collaboration with Illumination and Nintendo, which is expected to be one of the biggest hits of 2026. For exhibitors, it will add to the strong start of the year, with ticket sales already up more than 25%.
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