Project Hail Mary is following a familiar playbook when it comes to the Golden Globes. As we suggested a few months ago — and now confirmed — Phil Lord and Christopher Miller‘s space odyssey is going to make like The Martian and submit in the Comedy/Musical categories, including for Ryan Gosling’s star turn.
That earlier Ridley Scott-directed movie is an ideal comp. Both films are blockbuster sci-fi adventures that screenwriter Drew Goddard adapted from Andy Weir bestsellers involving A-list astronauts in extreme situations who must use their wits — and senses of humor — to survive impossible odds. The Martian was permitted to contend in the Comedy/Musical field at the 2016 Globes, winning the category’s best motion picture prize, as well as lead actor for Matt Damon. Project Hail Mary will follow suit, hoping to score the same prizes and get a bump heading into the Oscars.
Amazon MGM Studios obviously decided to run Project Hail Mary as a comedy to adhere to The Martian‘s proven formula; however, the move pits one Rocky against another. The studio’s other big awards play, I Play Rocky, which similarly alternates serious and laugh-out-loud moments, will also be contending in the Comedy/Musical categories, despite previously believed to be heading to the Drama side.
Since Gold Derby began tracking Project Hail Mary in the Comedy/Musical slate over a week ago, the movie has been inching its way up the leaderboard and is now in the No. 5 spot of the predicted six nominees behind The Invite, The Debut, Wild Horse Nine, and Obsession. Likewise, Gosling has been climbing the acting charts and sits at No. 5, trailing John Malkovich (Wild Horse Nine), Seth Rogen (The Invite), Tom Cruise (Digger), and Robert Pattinson (The Drama).
Golden Globes Film Nominations 2027
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The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth
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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
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Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
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Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
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Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
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Golden Globes Film Nominations 2027
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While strategic, the decision to enter Project Hail Mary in the Comedy/Musical field is certain to be controversial. The Martian‘s Globes wins were widely lambasted by the pundit class, who felt the film was taking an easier path to victory, and it remains a poster child for category fraud.
Speaking to Gold Derby last week, Goddard said he wasn’t too worried about whichever label got affixed the film. “I’ve spent my whole career with people not knowing if what I’m doing is a comedy or a drama. I’m attracted to things that blend genres,” he said. “That’s where I live, and I’m fine with it. I don’t set out to write this or that. I just write what I want to write, and then other people classify it.
“With regard to the Golden Globes,” he continues, “you can go on a deep dive on what gets classified as what, and I leave that to other people to decide. I’m just happy to be there.”
All things considered, though, Project Hail Mary does have one thing to boost its bona fides that The Martian did not: Sandra Hüller actually performing a song.
Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge and Penske Media Corporation, which owns Gold Derby.
