> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theomnicosm.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘Project Hail Mary,’ box office saving grace - URL: https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology-box-office-project-hail-mary/ - Published: 2026-03-23T11:00:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-23T11:00:02.000Z - Description: Ryan Gosling and a puppet alien blew away expectations and soared to one of the best debuts for a non-sequel/non-franchise film in over a decade with an $80.6M weekend. - Author: Bill Kuchman - Tags: Popculturology • The Box Office Report, Popculturology, Project Hail Mary, Hoppers Hello! Welcome to **The** **Box Office Report** for the weekend of March 20-22, 2026. ## 1\. Project Hail Mary *Weekend gross: *$80.6M** *Total domestic gross: *$80.6M** *Last weekend: *New release** *Percent drop: *NA** [What a weekend for *Project Hail Mary*](https://www.theomnicosm.com/popculturology-project-hail-mary-review/). Going into its opening weekend, the adaptation was tracking for a debut above $50 million — and it blew that projection away. *Project Hail Mary* opened with $80.6 million in North America. This is easily the biggest first weekend for any film opening in 2026, passing *Scream 7*’s $63.6 million and *Hoppers* $45.3 million. I feel like it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a film take off like *Project Hail Mary*. Sure, movies have performed above their tracking, but in the post-pandemic era, this kind of moment is rare. We went into the weekend with a hunch that **Phil Lord** and **Christopher Miller**’s adaptation would do well, but no one predicted *Project Hail Mary* would do this well. **Ryan Gosling** has run [a pretty flawless](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-review-ryan-gosling/) [press tour](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-ryan-gosling-seth-meyers/) for *Project Hail Mary*, and combined with glowing reviews and pretty stellar word of the mouth, the film scored one of the best opening weekends for a non-sequel, non-franchise film in a long time. ![Popculturology](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/popculturology-wordmark.png) Welcome to Popculturology! This publication is a free newsletter, but it’s fueled by readers like you. Support independent news, reviews and more for **just $5 a month**. [Upgrade to Paid](https://www.theomnicosm.com/about/#/portal/account/plans) Includes full access to **Snackology** and **The Cold Open**. ## 2\. Hoppers *Weekend gross: *$18M** *Total domestic gross: *$120.4M** *Last weekend: *1st** *Percent drop: *37** *Hoppers* continues to show remarkable strength, falling just 37 percent between its second and third weekends, matching last weekend’s drop. An $18 million third weekend brings the animated film’s domestic total to $120.4 million. This weekend’s haul inches *Hoppers* past *Lightyear* ($120.4 million) and puts it within sight of *The Good Dinosaur* ($123.1 million) on Pixar’s domestic box office ranks. ALSO FROM THE OMNICOSM Love what you’re reading? You might also enjoy **Snackology**, a deep-dive into the world of snacks, fast food and limited-edition treats. [Read the latest from Snackology →](https://www.theomnicosm.com/tag/snackology/) Already a subscriber? [Update your settings](https://www.theomnicosm.com/#/portal/account/plans) to add **Snackology** to your inbox. ## 3\. Dhurandhar: The Revenge *Weekend gross: *$9.6M** *Total domestic gross: *$13.5M** *Last weekend: *New release** *Percent drop: *NA** I’m unfamiliar with the *Dhurandhar* franchise, but that doesn’t mean the rest of you weren’t. The Indian film outperformed *Ready or Not 2: Here I Come* to score the No. 3 spot on the North American box office chart. ## 4\. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come *Weekend gross: *$9.1M** *Total domestic gross: *$9.1M** *Last weekend: *New release** *Percent drop: *NA** *Ready of Not 2: Here I Come* opened at No. 4, but the sequel still outperformed the opening weekend of its predecessor. *Ready or Not* debuted with $8 million back in August 2019\. That film’s opening weekend numbers are a bit skewed though, as the first *Ready or Not* opened on a Wednesday and already had a few million in its coffers before it hit the weekend. Get daily pop culture updates and news from **Bill Kuchman** on social media. [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/bluesky-green.svg) Bluesky ](https://bsky.app/profile/billkuchman.bsky.social?ref=theomnicosm.com) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/instagram-green.svg) Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/theomnicosm/?ref=theomnicosm.com) ## 5\. Reminders of Him *Weekend gross: *$8M** *Total domestic gross: *$33.2M** *Last weekend: *2nd** *Percent drop: *56** *Reminders of Him* stayed in the top five this weekend, but it would be an understatement to say that it failed to live up to the box office performance of *It Ends With Us*, another recent adaptation of a **Colleen Hoover** book. *Reminders of Him*’s entire box office gross has yet to even match *It Ends With Us*’s $50 million opening weekend. ## Beyond the Top Five - ***Scream 7*:** Even before a $4.3 million fourth weekend in theaters, *Scream 7* had already notched the distinction of being the biggest domestic hit for the entire *Scream* franchise, passing **Scream VI**’s $108.4 million North American haul. *Box office numbers via Box Office Mojo based on Sunday estimates.* ![Popculturology](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/02/popculturology-wordmark.png) Popculturology is a publication of **The Omnicosm**. 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