Project Hail Mary is leaving theaters and I’m streaming these 5 movies to cope ‣ Diverse Daily

If you’ve seen Project Hail Mary, you probably left the theaters thinking the same thing I did: Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!

Adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary is quite possibly the movie of 2026, even with major upcoming blockbusters such as Dune: Part 3 and The Odyssey coming out later this year. Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, the quirky middle school science teacher tasked with saving the world, or more specifically, our sun. His lonely journey is made not-so-lonely by an alien who has the same mission, and Grace and Rocky put their heads together to save their respective stars and find a lot more than what they’re looking for along the way.

Personally, I cried several times in front of that silver screen, and have already booked another movie ticket. But its extended theatrical run is coming to a close, which means we’ll have to wait a little longer to see Project Hail Mary on our home screens through streaming apps. After you book your own ‘final mission’ to see it in theaters, here are some other clever and hopecore sci-fi movies to watch while you wait for Project Hail Mary to come to digital.

Project Hail Mary

Release Date: March 15, 2026
Runtime: 157 minutes
Director: Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
Writers: Drew Goddard, Andy Weir

Ryan Gosling
Ryland Grace
James Ortiz
Rocky (voice)
Sandra Hüller
Eva Stratt

The Martian

Another Andy Weir story

I can’t write a list about movies like Project Hail Mary without incorporating Weir’s other massive adaptation. The Martian stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut mistakenly left on Mars by his crew after they think he died in a dust storm. Faced with limited supplies, an unforgiving environment, and his diverse skill set as both an engineer and botanist, Watney uses his wits to survive.

The Martian is a clever story that scratches the same ingenious itch that Project Hail Mary does with out-of-the-box thinking and a protagonist too clever to succumb to his circumstances. It also addresses the same loneliness factor, which takes a hefty psychological toll on Watney as well. Both movies make you proud to be human, even if The Martian focuses on just a single man while Project Hail Mary focuses on the greater world Ryland departed from.

The Martian

Release Date: October 2, 2015
Runtime: 2h 24m
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Drew Goddard

Arrival

More first-contact brain-candy

Unlike Project Hail Mary, the aliens come to Earth in this movie. Directed by Denis Villeneuve — who also did Dune and Blade Runner 2049 — Arrival follows Louise Banks, a brilliant linguist played by Amy Adams. When 12 strange extraterrestrial spaceships enter Earth’s atmosphere and sit idle, Louise is entrusted with the mission to establish communication between humans and our new ‘guests.’

Layered with ambiguous flashbacks and mind-bending concepts, Arrival is half eerie mystery and half clever brainpower and problem-solving that gives you a new perspective on how first-contact might occur. Like Ryland Grace convinces you that the first human to meet aliens should, in fact, probably be a school teacher, Louise Banks shows you that proper communication could be the simple yet stark difference between extraterrestrials becoming friends or foes.

Arrival

Release Date: November 11, 2016
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Eric Heisserer

Jeremy Renner
Ian Donnelly
Forest Whitaker
Colonel Weber
Michael Stuhlbarg
Agent Halpern

Passengers

Geniuses and love crossing the universe

Passengers starts almost exactly like Project Hail Mary — a man wakes up from his hibernation pod disoriented and hurtling through space. The difference is that engineer Jim Preston (played by Chris Pratt) wasn’t supposed to wake up. The ship he’s on is carrying 285 crew members and 5,000 passengers of varying skill sets, talents, and traveling classes set to colonize a new planet, Homestead II, and get off an overpopulated Earth. However, Jim’s hibernation pod malfunctioned, leaving him awake and alone on the ship with 90 years left in the journey.

Unable to go back to sleep or even contact Earth, Jim is on his own. That is, until he can’t take it anymore and makes a gut-wrenching decision. Right on par with Ryland Grace’s problem-solving cleverness, Jim must use his wits and knowledge to overcome circumstance, psychological tolls, and loneliness in an agonizing situation — but even that might not be enough to navigate love.

Passengers

Release Date: December 21, 2016
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: Morten Tyldum
Writers: Jon Spaihts

Jennifer Lawrence
Aurora Lane
Laurence Fishburne
Gus Mancuso

A classic from Steven Spielberg

E.T. is the hallmark of wholesome alien movies. An oldie but a goodie, the 1982 film follows a ten-year-old boy named Elliott and a kind alien he sweetly nicknames E.T., short for Extra-Terrestrial. E.T. winds up in Elliott’s shed after he must hide from US government agents chasing him, and he’s unfortunately left behind by his companions, leaving him stranded on Earth. As the two slowly gain each other’s trust, Elliott and E.T. develop a bond unlike any other, and the boy makes it his mission to help his new alien friend get back home.

Just like Project Hail Mary, E.T. is about how connection can transcend species and planets, and that bonds that strong can help us accomplish things we never thought possible — within the bounds of physics or science.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Release Date: June 11, 1982
Runtime: 115 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Melissa Mathison

Robert MacNaughton
Michael

Interstellar

Possibly the best space movie of all time

Interstellar is a masterpiece. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who’s famous for his portrayal of time in his intellectually layered films, Interstellar follows a team of astronauts as they depart from a dying Earth to seek out a new planet habitable for human life. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a former NASA pilot who goes on this time-bending expedition to save humanity, leaving behind his son and young daughter.

Cooper must brave black holes, gravity complications, and even dangers on other planets all in a race against time — but not as we know it here on Earth. Besides the problem-solving elements (like the iconic docking scene) and high-stakes mission, Interstellar is a story about love, sacrifice, and humanity’s desperate attempts to survive without succumbing to panic or chaos, all against the psychological urges to do so. Plus, Interstellar’s original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and features one of the most hauntingly beautiful (and intense) soundtracks I’ve ever heard.