Project Hail Mary rockets to the top of the box office to deliver the biggest opening for a film this year.
Sydney, Australia – Project Hail Mary has launched into cinemas to deliver the biggest opening for a film this year. Starring Ryan Gosling as a science teacher tasked with a critical mission, the film adapts the novel by Andy Weir and marks the biggest non-franchise movie opening in Australian cinemas since Oppenheimer.
Project Hail Mary delivered 297,000 admissions and earned $6.89 million over its Thursday to Sunday opening weekend. The film saw a 66% male skew, with 59% of admissions falling within the older, more affluent P25–54 demographic.
Shot for IMAX, Project Hail Mary delivers a visually breathtaking experience, with its heartfelt sci-fi story resonating strongly with both audiences and critics, earning a 95% critics' score and 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Bollywood action film, Dhurandhar: The Revenge also had a record opening weekend delivering 174,000 admissions. This sets a new benchmark in Australia for the biggest opening for an Indian film, surpassing 2024’s Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2, which previously held the record with 122,000 admissions.
Guy Burbidge, Managing Director of Val Morgan Cinema, commented, “The success of Project Hail Mary is no surprise. Led by Ryan Gosling’s global appeal and charisma, and amplified by the scale and spectacle of IMAX, the film is delivering exactly what audiences are seeking from major event releases.”
Burbidge added, “The strength of the current slate highlights how cinema continues to attract broad audiences through the depth and breadth of content, with Dhurandhar: The Revenge underscoring the growing demand for international storytelling. Its record-breaking performance reflects Australia’s appetite for global content, offering brands a powerful way to connect with culturally and linguistically diverse audiences through the cinema experience.”
Looking ahead, audiences can expect an incredible pipeline of IMAX releases, including Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, set to be the first film shot entirely on IMAX cameras, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia debuting exclusively in IMAX and Dune: Part Three, the epic conclusion to Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy, following Dune: Part Two which became the biggest IMAX release of all time in Australia, signalling even greater momentum for the format.
Source: CineTAM 2026, CineTAM Live 2026, Numero.