After grossing over $680 million at the global box office and making its digital debut last month, the runaway blockbuster Project Hail Mary is plotting a course toward MGM+ for its streaming debut on June 18. What does this mean? It means Project Hail Mary is getting a limited release on MGM+ (a Prime Video channel) before hitting Prime Video proper. This development also means Prime subscribers will need to wait a bit longer to stream the movie at home, unless they’ve got access to MGM+. While the wait is a bit of a drag, it’s a smart way to point eyeballs toward Prime’s MGM+ channel, where more of the studio’s films could make their streaming debut in the future.
Why MGM+ over Prime?
Clearly, the massive success of Project Hail Mary is why it’s going to MGM+ first. It makes sense – MGM+ is a paid add-on service, so if they want to gain more subscribers, it makes sense that’s where they’d send their highest-grossing movie of all time. Deadline states different movies will receive direct windows, with Project Hail Mary‘s MGM+ and PVOD debut being the PAY ONE window. It will come to Prime later. Even still, it’s highly unusual for an Amazon/MGM movie to premiere on MGM+, with the only recent one to do so being American Fiction and that was two years ago. Even Spider-Noir, an MGM+ production, only had a two-day exclusive window on MGM+ before hitting Prime. Project Hail Mary will likely be exclusive to MGM+ for weeks, if not months. It will be interesting to see where Amazon/MGM’s Masters of the Universe premieres, given how poorly it’s performing in theatres. My hunch is it will debut on Prime first.
What’s Project Hail Mary about?
“Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.”
Project Hail Mary was a major success in theaters
While in theaters, Project Hail Mary has grossed an astounding $680M+ worldwide. JoBlo’s Alex Maidy saw the film four times in theaters, which is both shocking and completely on-brand. I remember how captivated my crowd was when the film was playing. Everyone was watching the movie in rapt silence, wondering what manner of unfortunate events would befall Grace next. As much as movie lovers should experience the film in theaters, there’s something to be said about watching it in the comfort of your own home. There’s no one to bother you, you can make your own snacks, and nobody can poke fun at you as you find yourself lost in Gosling’s dreamy… well, everything.
I’m unbothered by Project Hail Mary streaming on MGM+ before it hits Prime because I’ve already seen the film in the cinema. Still, I appreciate why subscribers who don’t have access to MGM+ could feel a little burned by having to wait a bit longer to watch the movie on the vanilla version of Prime. Make sure you plan your watch party appropriately, folks.
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