Project Hail Mary’s $140m Stellar Opening: Are Original Blockbusters Back?

 

Ryan Gosling heads into space (with exceptional knitwear) in Project Hail Mary — a rare original sci-fi that’s already shaping up to be one of 2026’s biggest hits. 

Film experts Emma Jones and Kaleem Aftab ask whether Hollywood might finally be rediscovering its appetite for risk. Is this a genuine shift away from franchise dominance — or just a one-off?

And they look beyond Hollywood to the global box office, from India’s record-breaking Dhurandhar: The Revenge to China’s post–Ne Zha 2 landscape, and why South Korea continues to set the cultural pace.

Follow Kaleem and Emma on Instagram:

@aftabamon

@emmapjones1

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