Actor Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi adventure film Project Hail Mary’s India release was postponed from March 20 to March 26, 2026 amid the success of Dhurandhar:The Revenge. The film’s co-director, Phil Lord, reacted to the delay and joked about Indian cinema having its “own successful film industry?”
Phil and his directorial partner, Christopher Miller, in an interview with Hindustan Times spoke about the growing popularity of Indian films globally and how RRR benefited Indian cinema.
The unconfirmed buzz in the trade is that the move was necessitated to avoid a box office collision with actor Ranveer Singh’s espionage-thriller. Phil acknowledged how decades ago, the Indian film would have moved its release date to accommodate a big Hollywood studio film. On things turning the other way round, he said, “How dare you have your own successful film industry?”
However, the director emphasised it as a growing soft power of Indian cinema. “I don’t need to tell you that often, when you look at the top 10 films in the United States, there would be a Bollywood film. Those movies play in American theatres. Most Americans go ‘what’s that’, but there is a big audience for it,” he added.
Project Hail Mary’s co-director, Christopher said, “And it’s growing every year. Indian films in America have begun to gain broad cultural relevance, starting with RRR.” Christopher highlighted that RRR did what many Indian films before that had not been able to – take Indian cinema beyond its core viewership in the United States, beyond just the South Asian diaspora. “That really spread out beyond just those seeking it out,” he added.
Project Hail Mary to release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu
Sony Pictures India and IMAX India on Friday informed fans that Project Hail Mary, the much-awaited science fiction film, will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across IMAX and regular cinemas in India from March 26. The original release plan would have seen the film open in the country alongside its US debut.
In their announcement, Sony and IMAX wrote, “An update from Earth before we head to space! We want this journey to be truly out of this world. #ProjectHailMary will be in IMAX and cinemas on March 26, in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu (sic).”
Project Hail Mary, meanwhile, is set to release in India on March 26 now, a week after Dhurandhar: The Revenge’s release. Based on the 2021 novel by Andy Weir, it also features actors Sandra Huller, James Ortiz, and Lionel Boyce. The film follows Dr Ryland Grace, played by Gosling, who awakens on an interstellar spacecraft with no memory of how he got there.
The sci-fi film is co-produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lord Miller Productions, Pascal Pictures, Open Invite Films and Waypoint Entertainment.
