Ryan Gosling, 44, appeared at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 26, to tease his upcoming spacefaring blockbuster Project Hail Mary, a science-fiction comedy based on author Andy Weir's 2021 novel of the same name.
The movie follows Gosling's character, Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who embarks on a perilous journey into space to determine why dozens of stars, including the sun, are dying, putting all life on Earth at risk.
Gosling described the film as "heartbreaking as it was funny" and said that he had to do something impossible to bring the story to life. "It took me places I've never been, it showed me things I had never seen," he said.
"This story is about a scared guy who has to do something impossible. Now, I was a scared guy who had to do something impossible, just trying to turn this into a movie."
The film is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) from a script by Drew Goddard, who also adapted author Weir's novel The Martian into the space-faring film that starred Matt Damon.
Lord, Miller, Goddard, and Weir joined Gosling for the footage-filled Hall H panel, moderated by Josh Horowitz.
The crowd was treated to the hilarious first five minutes of the film, depicting Gosling's Grace waking up from a cryogenic state.
Gosling quipped that his character's costume, a placenta onesie, was a "space caveman" look that he hoped to see at Comic-Con one day. Working closely with Goddard and Weir, Gosling said he "tried to create these different layers to him as he's evolving from a space caveman to a space person that needs to do some really important stuff."
The teaser trailer released on June 30 shows Gosling's character spending a significant amount of time alone in space, but he also appears to befriend an alien on his mission.
The team revealed that the mineral-like alien, nicknamed Rocky, will come to life through a mix of computer-generated animation and puppetry courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. "It comes alive in a way where you would die for this character," said Miller.
Miller emphasised that the movie "answers the question: 'If the universe depended on it, can adult men make friends in six days?' " Ultimately, he said, "it's a story about connection, it's about hopefulness and about humanity. It's a very emotional story."
Project Hail Mary, costarring Lionel Boyce, Milana Vayntrub, and Ken Leung, is set to hit theaters on March 20, 2026.