PROJECT HAIL MARY PRODUCTION
B ased on Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary follows middle-school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who wakes up alone light years from Earth with no recollection of how he got there. As his memory slowly returns, he remembers his mission to stop a mysterious substance from drying out the Sun. Along with an unexpected friend, he must fight to save Earth. After watching The Lego Movie , DOP Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS became a fan of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. “I was so impressed by that film because my brain just doesn’t work that way,” he begins. “I was hellbent on meeting them to deep dive into their psyche and learn something from how they make films.” When Project Hail Mary came along, it proved perfect timing for all involved. But working on a film of this scale involved significant preparation. “There’s all of the science-related complications and so we had certain limitations we had to follow, such as obeying the laws of gravity,” says Fraser. “The way our ship travels is non-conventional. It doesn’t move like the Millennium Falcon or a Star Destroyer; it travels in a vertical manner and when it slows down it goes horizontal. It’s been designed with reality and real physics in mind, not sci-fi.” Fraser says the film’s core premise is simple. “When you strip it back, it’s about a guy in space, but Phil and Chris didn’t lead with that. Their idea was that it’s a buddy film. It was great because the science and space came second.” Although it’s a buddy film at heart, the claustrophobia and vastness of space is integral to the story. “The idea of going to space freaks me out,” laughs Fraser. “We wanted to make something that doesn’t look too of the future, or of the past, so it was about finding that happy medium. It was a very fine balance.” TWO OF US On his journey, Grace meets a five- limbed, spider-shaped sentient rock he names Rocky, and the two form a close bond. Rocky is from the planet Erid and is also stranded alone on his ship. When he first meets Grace, he communicates via musical tones, echoing the same tones from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
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