Project Hail Mary is the most talked-about film of 2026, not only because of its incredible story, generational acting performance from Ryan Gosling, and beautiful score, but also because of the larger impact that this film is having on movie theaters. Thanks to the film’s crazy box office performance, distributor Amazon (via its MGM studios arm) made the unprecedented move to delay the movie’s streaming debut just a few weeks ago to try and keep it in theaters for an extended window so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to see the film in theaters the way it was meant to be seen.

And while the world may still be buzzing about Project Hail Mary, this actually isn’t star Ryan Gosling’s first trip into space. The star played real-life astronaut Neil Armstrong in 2018’s often-overlooked biopic First Man. The film marks the star’s second collaboration with La La Land director Damien Chazelle and follows Armstrong not only in the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969, but also how the experience changed the trajectory of his life once he came back to Earth.

The film didn’t exactly light the box office on fire the same way Project Hail Mary has, but it did garner positive reviews, notching an 87% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and even going on to win an Oscar for its visual effects.

If you want to check this film out, it looks like now is a great time to do so, especially if you want to see Ryan Gosling go on another impossible space mission.

notable shows

Kitchen Nightmares, Merlin

notable movies

Clueless, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, How to Train Your Dragon, Mean Girls, Star Trek

Premium Subscription

Yes, $13.99 per month

Originals

No

Live TV

No

YouTube is one of the biggest internet video platforms of them all, with news content, viral videos, niche fandoms, and everything in between.

First Man is streaming free on YouTube

The usual purchase options also exist

If you want to check out First Man, you can do so on YouTube, which has posted the film in its entirety with ads embedded above or at the link here. If you would rather experience the film without ads, you can purchase it at Apple TV, Fandango at Home, or on Amazon Prime Video.

The film is also available on Blu-ray and 4K UHD at Amazon as well if you would like to own a physical copy.

What else is free to stream on YouTube?

A few hits but they can be hard to find

YouTube mainly focuses on selling rentals and digital copies of new movies, which is why it can be a little difficult to find free movies on the service. However, after some searching I was able to find a few interesting titles that were free to stream, including Ocean’s Eleven, Network, The Karate Kid, and Seven Samurai. You can check out a playlist of free movies streaming on YouTube here.