Worldwide Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary debuted to an awesome $140.9M. That’s the biggest global debut so far in 2026 for an MPA title, head of Paramount/Spyglass’ Scream 7 global launch of $97M+. Yes, big win for a non-franchise movie, which is what the industry needs, and it’s also a solid start against Project Hail Mary‘s net $190M production, but we’re hearing this is playing like a family movie around the world (the Ryan Gosling movie took the wind out of Hoppers‘ domestic sails a bit — that Pixar movie was expected to post a 3rd weekend between $20M-$21M and came in at $18M).
The overall international weekend estimate is $60.4M from 82 markets, which reps 90% of the offshore footprint. What’s the appeal abroad? If the New York Times bestseller was a catalyst stateside, what drove convinced people to go abroad? I mean, the amazing thing here is that this is the second Gosling astronaut movie post the disastrous and moody First Man ($44.9M domestic, $105.7M). Essentially, the movie wasn’t sold as an astronaut movie, rather regular guy in impossible situations. That’s what global trailers sold, in addition to the affable Gosling. Local audience scores around the world are fantastic ala the U.S. PostTrak definite recommend of 83%, and that word of mouth is the rocket jet fuel for this dramedy.
On a like-for-like basis excluding China, the opening weekend is on par with Interstellar and Dune. This marks only the fourth non-sequel/non-franchise film to open above $50M abroad post-COVID alongside Oppenheimer, F, and Superman.
The Ryan Gosling starring and produced, Lord & Miller directed production opened at No. 1 in 60+ markets including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.
Among the No. 1s: UK ($10.2M on 1,546 screens), Australia ($5M on 628 screens), Germany ($4.1M on 878 screens), Mexico ($3M on 1,870 screens), France ($2.6M on 700 screens), Japan ($2.6M on 819 screens), Italy ($1.5M on 369 screens), Brazil ($1.3M on 853 screens), Netherlands ($1.2M on 114 screens), Poland ($780K on 215 screens), Belgium ($685K on 158 screens), Sweden ($672K on 150 screens), Norway ($660K on 250 screens), Denmark ($600K on 85 screens), Switzerland ($580K on 120 screens), Czech Republic ($540K on 248 screens), New Zealand ($525K on 110 screens), Philippines ($480K on 234 screens), Austria ($450K on 72 screens), Hungary ($390K on 80 screens), Finland ($380K on 120 screens) Peru ($370K on 215 screens) Ukraine ($370K on 255 screens), Portugal ($350K on 65 screens) and Chile ($330K on 140 screens).
Among the No. 2s: China ($7.1M on 12K screens ahead of Gladiator 2, Superman; Disney’s Hoppers was No. 1; strong Dauban score of 8.5), South Korea ($4.3M on 1,337 screens, ahead of F1, Superman; males came out on day one, but then the audience broadened, a scenario being seen in all markets), United Arab Emirates ($1M on 94 screens), Taiwan ($940K on 150 screens), Hong Kong ($555K on 120 screens), Colombia ($450K on 280 screens), Singapore ($365K on 74 screens) Argentina ($352K on 300 screens). The sole No. 3 opening belongs to Saudi Arabia with $660K on 100 screens; a local comedy Shabab El Bomb 3 was No. 1. Note the Iran War is slowing attendance in the Mid-East.
Imax alone delivered $30.3M worldwide, which is the biggest non-franchise opening weekend in Imax history since last summer’s F1 (which went on to earn $100M WW in the large format alone). Overall, the biggest global opening weekend for an MGM movie in Imax (Sorry, Mr. Bond). North America Imax was $16.4M, making is the third movie in the exhib’s history to index over 20% with an overall opening north of $80M. Fifteen locations stateside as well as London’s BFI exhibited the film in Imax 70MM format earned $2M for a $122K per screen.
Imax’s foreign B.O. on the Gosling movie was $11.2M. In China, the Imax network was a staggering 34% of the total bow and set the record for the biggest debut of an original sci-fi title in the large format. Other notable indexing markets include UK (16.4%), Japan (29%), Hong Kong (33%), South Korea (25%), Mexico (16%), and Brazil (12%).
“Project Hail Mary is an excellent film for which Amazon/MGM ran a brilliant campaign, leaning heavily on the power of IMAX as a global launch platform across production, marketing, and distribution,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “Going back decades to some of our earliest documentaries, there is an enduring connection between IMAX and space, and this film’s stunning depiction of the cosmos stands among the best — it truly demands to be experienced in IMAX.”
Project Hail Mary will hold all Imax theaters in its second weekend.
Highlights from the Berlin and Toronto lightshows promoting the pic:
More, we’ll have more…
We’re still waiting on final global results for Hindi title Dhurandhar: The Revenge but it’s expected to be big especially after posting a record-breaking start for a Bollywood title with a 5-day of $13.5M.
Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s Hoppers has a third global weekend of $52.2M ($18M domestic, -37%; $34.2M, -33%, from 51 territories) for a running total of $242.6M WW ($120.4M Domestic and $122.2M International).
Hoppers opened this weekend at No. 1 in China with $9.6M, posting the highest opening weekend for an original MPA animated film since Coco in 2017. Coco went loco in China, you’ll remember, making $189.2M (unadjusted for inflation and currency swings). The social scores are good with Maoyan at 9.4 (Zootopia 2: 9.5, Coco: 9.6), TPP 9.4 (Zootopia 2: 9.5, Coco: 9.4) and Douban 7.7 (Zootopia 2 : 9.3, Coco: 9.1, Inside Out : 8.8).
Hoppers also led in Taiwan, posting the highest opening for an original animated film ever, with $3.0M (including previews). In Malaysia, Hoppers notched No. 1, posting the highest MPA opening of 2026 to date. Hoppers opened at #2 (non-local) in UAE, +119% ahead of Coco and +43% ahead of Zootopia.
Hoppers was also the top (non-local) film in Spain and China as well as Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Uruguay. Australia and New Zealand are a go next weekend. Updated cumes are UK ($12.7M), Mexico ($11.2M), China ($9.6M), Germany ($9.6M), France ($7.7M), Spain ($6.4M), Japan ($6.1M), Italy ($5M), Brazil ($4.4M) and South Korea ($4.3M).
Sony Pictures International Productions’ Torrente Presidente held No. 1 in its native Spain, -16% with a 2nd weekend of $7M and running total of $19.4M. Hand down, the biggest local title in the market since 2018.
Sony’s GOAT also posted $7M in its sixth weekend, evenly split between foreign and North America at $3.5M apiece. Global running cume is $174.5M with $77M abroad and $97.5M domestic. Upcoming openings are South Korea on April 17 and Saudi Arabia on April 23.
