Project Hail Mary (PHM) is out now in theaters worldwide — and, whether you’ve watched Ryan Gosling’s new sci-fi film yet or not, you might want to know how it ends. I don’t know why you would if you haven’t seen it, but, hey, I’m not your dad.
Anyway, I suspect you’ve got big questions about the ending of one of this year’s most exciting new movies. Be advised, though: full spoilers immediately follow for PHM. If you don’t want to know anything about its ending, bookmark this page for later, read my Project Hail Mary review, go and see it, and then return to this article.
Do Ryland Grace and/or Rocky die in Project Hail Mary?
No, PHM’s beloved protagonists live to fight another day — but, hoo boy, do they cut it fine.
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After an unspecified amount of time conducting research into the Astrophage — that’s the electromagnetic radiation-feeding microorganism that’s slowly killing all but one of the galaxy’s stars — Grace and Rocky make a big breakthrough. They confirm that the only celestial body that’s seemingly immune to the Astrophage — a star called Tau Ceti — definitely isn’t affected by them.
The reason? A planet orbiting Tau Ceti, which the pair dub ‘Adrian’ in honor of Rocky’s significant other (you know, because of Rocky and Adrian in the Rocky films? Never mind…), is home to another microscopic organism that feeds on Astrophage.
Even though Tau Ceti has a Petrova Line — that’s the infrared line inhabited by the Astrophage that exists between a planet and its nearest star — the bacteria that exist on Adrian, which Grace names ‘Taumoeba’, feast on the Astrophage, which in turn stops them from feeding on Tau Ceti’s radiation.
So, Grace and Rocky come up with a plan: descend into Adrian’s atmosphere, secure a sample of Taumoeba, breed them in the lab on Grace’s spaceship, and take the samples back to their respective solar systems to cure the stars.
Sounds simple — except it isn’t. Everything goes according to plan until a breach in the fuel bay of Grace’s space vessel causes it to violently spin out of control. Long story short: the centrifugal action of the careening spaceship knocks Grace unconscious.
Rocky’s on the same ship, though in a protective ball — he and Grace can’t survive in the atmosphere of each other’s starship — so he breaks out of said capsule to save Grace… but it comes at a cost. The ship’s atmosphere severely harms Rocky and, when a near-recovered Grace wakes days later, neither he nor the audience knows Rocky’s fate.
Frantically searching for his adorable alien bestie, Grace finds Rocky heavily injured and motionless. Grace keeps watch over his buddy and continues to breed enough Taumoeba for the pair in the hope that Rocky will soon wake up.
Thankfully, we’re all spared from watching our new favorite extraterrestrial pass away. Eventually, to the delight of everyone who’ll see PHM, Rocky recovers from his wounds and, in a highly moving scene, he and Grace embrace, albeit with one of Rocky’s protective capsule walls between them.
Why doesn’t Ryland Grace return to Earth in Project Hail Mary?
Grace fills Rocky in on what he’s been up to and, following a tear-jerking goodbye, the duo part ways — but it’s not the last time they’ll cross paths.
Traveling back to Earth using the Astrophage-derived fuel that Rocky gifted him, Grace soon realizes that the Taumoeba have evolved. Even worse, they’ve adapted to eat through the containers that Grace stored them in. Said vessels are made of xenonite, the alien substance that Rocky’s ship is made of, so the Taumoeba will not only consume the Astrophage-derived fuel on Rocky’s ride home, but the vessel itself.
So, Grace has a decision to make: return to Earth knowing he left Rocky to die, or find his buddy in the vastness of space and help him return to his home world, Erid.
Surprising no one, Grace chooses the latter. Sending the Taumoeba back to Earth on the spacefaring probes that his ship came equipped with, Grace sets off to locate Rocky. Sure enough, Grace finds his spider-like alien buddy, explains the situation, and promises to get Rocky home safe and sound.
In the Amazon movie’s final minutes, we learn that the probes have made it back to Earth — now gripped by icy conditions due to the slow waning of the Sun — with the Taumoeba intact. There, Eva Stratt, who hired Ryland Grace in the first place, has collected the probes and is preparing to unleash the Taumoeba on the Astrophage, thus saving our star.
Meanwhile, on Erid, we watch Grace wake up in a biodome — one forged from xenonite and parts of his spaceship — and is greeted by Rocky at his front door. After the pair take a stroll along one of Erid’s beaches and discuss whether it’s time for Grace to return to Earth, he makes the decision to stay before heading off to teach science to a group of Eridian schoolchildren.
Is there a mid-credits or post-credits scene in Project Hail Mary?
No, there isn’t an end credits scene to stick around for. As I always say, you should sit through a movie’s closing crawl to appreciate everyone who worked on it. But, again, I’m not one of your parents, so you do you.
Will there be a Project Hail Mary 2?
Nope. Project Hail Mary is a near-perfect adaptation of sci-fi author Andy Weir’s book of the same name. That novel is a self-contained story that, to date, doesn’t have a sequel. In short: unless Weir pens a follow-up book (and I don’t know why he would), there won’t be a Project Hail Mary 2.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t more Weir-penned books that have received, or will receive, the big-screen retelling treatment.
For one, The Martian, the 2016 sci-fi flick starring Matt Damon, was the first of Weir’s three main literary works to be reimagined on the silver screen. Obviously, that was followed by 2026’s Project Hail Mary.
The only book yet to be adapted, then, is Artemis, published in 2017. Project Hail Mary directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have already expressed interest in helming a movie adaptation of that novel (per The Hollywood Reporter). In the same article, the duo says there’s already a “delightful” script ready to be shot when the time comes.
For his part, Weir told Den of Geek that he’d like to see Jenna Ortega play its main character, Jazz, but it’s unclear if his wish will come true. Weir says a studio would need to throw a ton of cash at him, plus Lord and Miller, to realize their vision for Artemis. Don’t hold your breath, then, that it’ll get made any time soon.
For more PHM coverage, find out how many times Rocky was designed before his final look was achieved for Project Hail Mary. After that, get the lowdown on Project Hail Mary filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s favorite sci-fi movies — one of which is a John Carpenter film you’ve probably never heard of.
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