Ryan Gosling sparks early Oscar buzz in Project Hail Mary

It's still early in the year, but already Project Hail Mary is garnering Oscar buzz.

The film is proving to be a box office smash in the US, bringing audiences to cinemas in numbers not seen for a non-franchise film since Oppenheimer, AP News reports.

The science fiction epic starring Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller earned around $80.5 million (£60.42 million) in ticket sales in its first weekend, according to studio estimates. Box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that translates into about five million ticket buyers.

The PG-13 rated film easily topped the US domestic box office charts, surpassing all expectations with a record opening for studio Amazon MGM, whose previous best was Creed III with $58 million (£43.5 million) in 2023.

Ryan Gosling is the first name being circled on early Oscar ballot papers thanks to his leading role in the film.

Adapted from Andy Weir's popular novel, the film follows Ryland Grace, an elementary school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth with no memory of how he got there. As the pieces slowly click back into place, so does the terrifying reality that he has been sent on a mission to figure out why the sun is dying and to stop humanity's extinction before it is too late.

Canadian-born Gosling achieved Hollywood heartthrob status with The Notebook in 2004. His turn as a drug-addicted middle school teacher in Half Nelson earned him his first Oscar nod in 2006.

He was also nominated for the role of Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie in 2023.