&34;This was the most rewarding creative collaboration of our careers,&34; codirector Christopher Miller told Hall H. Ryan Gosling introduces his 'space caveman

"This was the most rewarding creative collaboration of our careers," co-director Christopher Miller told Hall H.

Ryan Gosling introduces his 'space caveman' and alien partner in *Project Hail Mary *Comic-Con panel

"This was the most rewarding creative collaboration of our careers," co-director Christopher Miller told Hall H.

By Wesley Stenzel

and Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at .

EW's editorial guidelines

Published on July 26, 2025 06:44PM EDT

Ryan Gosling at San Diego Comic-Con on July 26, 2025. Credit:

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Ryan Gosling took San Diego Comic-Con 2025 by storm on Saturday.

The *La La Land* star appeared at a Hall H panel to promote his upcoming film *Project Hail Mary*, a sci-fi adventure based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir (*The Martian*), who also joined him on stage. Gosling hailed the author as the "greatest sci-fi mind of our time."

The actor was joined by the film's directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller (*The LEGO Movie*), as well as screenwriter Drew Goddard.

"The movie is about collaboration, and this was the most rewarding creative collaboration of our careers," Miller told the audience.

"It's really good, guys," Weir promised.

Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Ryan Gosling, Andy Weir, and Drew Goddard at the 'Project Hail Mary' panel at 2025 Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center on July 26, 2025, held at the San Diego Convention Center on July 26, 2025.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

In the film, Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle-school teacher-turned-astronaut who embarks on a mission to save humanity when the Earth's sun (and almost every other star in the galaxy) threatens to flicker out.

Sandra Hüller (*Anatomy of a Fall*) portrays the head of the titular project, Eva Stratt, while Milana Vayntrub (*Other Space*) plays Olesya Ilyukhina, one of Ryland's ill-fated crewmates.

A 5-minute clip of the movie with unfinished VFX was then shown in Hall H, which was outfitted with special screens that extended around much of the room. In the scene, a large bag unzips with Gosling's Ryland inside. A robot arm pulls a breathing tube out of his mouth as red and blue lights flash. Gagging and coughing up water, Ryland rolls out of the bag and falls to the floor of a spaceship. The robot asks rudimentary questions, like, "What is 2 + 2?" as the disoriented astronaut tries to get his bearings. His hair and beard are shaggy and overgrown.

Ryan Gosling in 'Project Hail Mary'.

Amazon MGM Studios

"Please remember that muscle function has not yet been restored," the robot warns.

Ryland then approaches his crewmember's cots and sees that they appear to be dead. He climbs a ladder up to a circular hall in the spaceship and asks, "Where am I?" Outside a window, he sees he's traveling through space.

"I'm a little embarrassed to admit this here: I have not read the book yet," Goddard joked after the clip.

"Any numbers you see on a whiteboard or on a screen, I put hours into making sure those were correct," Weir, known for technical accuracy in his writing, revealed.

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"This is the most complex movie we've ever made, and we made two *Dunes,*" Lord told the audience, repeating what Fraser and the VFX coordinator (who worked on both *Dune* movies) said to each other on set.

In another clip, Huller's Stratt shows up at the middle school where Ryland teaches to recruit him to the world-saving mission.

"Am I expendable? Is that why you want me?" he asks. "That's not the only reason," she replies cooly.

Inside a laboratory and wearing a hazmat suit, Ryland opens a canister with a mysterious goo inside, which he inspects under a microscope.

"It's a cell. It's a tiny alien cell. Guys, this is first contact with life, outside of the... Uh oh. Oh, it died," he tells a group of military personnel observing from a safe distance behind glass.

Ryan Gosling in 'Project Hail Mary'.

Amazon MGM Studios

Speaking to Hall H after the clip, Gosling said of his character, "He goes through such an emotional journey, a personal journey, he evolves in so many ways, but yeah, as you saw in the first scene, he wakes up out of cryo and he looks like a space caveman and he's sort of in this placenta onesie thing — that I hope to be seeing at Comic-Con one of these days, that's my dream."

"The set was visited by more than one actual astronaut who had been to space, and they watched your footage and were like, 'That's a lot more what it's like,'" Lord said of another clip showing Ryland struggling to stabilize himself in zero G.**

In the film, Ryland must join forces with an alien he dubs "Rocky" to solve the problem of the dying stars. After the actor said that it was "too soon" to discuss his extraterrestrial counterpart, Weir joked, "From Emma Stone to person of stone," referring to Gosling's *La La Land *costar.

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To bring Rocky to life, the directors opted for practical effects over CGI, creating a Rocky puppet.

"A beautiful blend of creature puppetry and animation," Miller said. "He comes alive in a way where you would die for this character."

He added, "Rocky does not have a face...he's made of rocks and has five legs."

Ryan Gosling in 'Project Hail Mary'.

Amazon MGM Studios

"No amount of physical discomfort by Ryan was too much," Weir added, joking, "We were willing to make that sacrifice. He's the Fall Guy."

In yet another clip, Ryland is seen climbing down into Rocky's spaceship and meeting the alien for the first time through a small window. Ryland taps on what appears to be glass, and a mysterious hand slams against it, causing the astronaut to jump back in fear."

Rocky then communicates with Ryland by holding up a small metal figurine of a man and a spaceship, seemingly pantomiming what he would like Gosling to do.**

Also featuring Lionel Boyce (*The Bear*) and Ken Leung (*Industry*), *Project Hail Mary* hits theaters on March 20, 2026.

**Check out more of EW's coverage from San Diego Comic-Con 2025**.

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