Project Hail Mary has become a box office success, but did it accurately depict the science behind space travel?
As one of the celebrity scientists in the world, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s opinion on science fiction movies and television has become a type of gospel for audiences. Directors and producers also look to him for approval on their films.
The movie’s directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, spoke to Sirius XM’s Julia Cunningham about Tyson’s opinion on the film. The duo was asked if the astrophysicist was brought on as a consultant for the film. He wasn’t an official consultant, but it was revealed that Tyson went to the film’s premiere and after-party.
Miller was excited to announce, “We passed the Neil deGrasse Tyson test, yeah.” Tyson confirmed that the science behind the adventure film was correct and would theoretically work in real life. There was also a sense of overwhelming relief from Miller that his film didn’t get the same critiques as Armageddon.
Tyson has gone on record several times criticizing the 1998 film where a group of astronauts destroys an asteroid headed for Earth with a nuclear bomb. However, the scientist claims the easiest way to prevent an asteroid from colliding with Earth is to nudge it off course a few centimeters (via Deadline). He said, “All you gotta do is just nudge it, and if you do that early enough, if you nudge it like one centimeter per second to the right, in space, there’s no friction, so it’ll just keep drifting to the right.“
In the interview, Ryan Gosling, who plays the main protagonist in Project Hail Mary, added a fun fact about Andy Weir. Weir wrote the novel The Martian, which the film is based on. The actor retold one of his favorite stories about the author, saying Weir knew he was different, “when he was watching Titanic, and when Jack dies, he thought, ‘Those aren’t the constellations that would be above them right now.’“
The story garnered a laugh from everyone in the room, and Gosling went on to explain that scientific details are very important to Weir, and that’s why he started writing his own stories. Although Tyson didn’t take on an official role for the film, 58-year-old astrophysicist Brian Cox did come to set and weigh in on the science behind the story. Cox has written several nonfiction books on scientific topics, including the planets and black holes.
Audiences can see Project Hail Mary in theaters now.
- Release Date
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March 20, 2026
- Runtime
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156 Minutes
- Director
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Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
- Writers
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Drew Goddard, Andy Weir
- Producers
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Ryan Gosling, Amy Pascal, Andy Weir, Aditya Sood, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Rachel O’Connor
