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Tag: Phil Lord

  • Why the New ‘Project Hail Mary’ Trailer Has That Big ‘Spoiler’ in It

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    When Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary was first released, it happened about 170 pages into a 470-page novel. That’s when the author decided it was time to reveal what his story was really about. Oh, sure. It was about a man named Ryland Grace waking up in space with amnesia and slowly figuring out that the fate of the planet is in his hands. But, also, it’s about Ryland meeting an alien.

    Well, as you probably know, that book is becoming a movie starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. And, after just teasing it in the first trailer, its latest trailer prominently features the alien who Ryland nicknames “Rocky.” According to Weir, who is also a producer on the film, there was discussion about holding back the reveal, but ultimately, the studio decided against it.

    “It’s really more a marketing decision by Amazon MGM, but the idea was no one’s going to walk into that theater and not know about Rocky,” Weir told Polygon. “This is not a Darth Vader is Luke’s father kind of situation. This is a core, central element of the plot that everybody’s going to be talking about and that everybody who’s read the book already knows about.”

    Lord and Miller, who are making their return to directing for the first time in over a decade, agree. “You can’t tell this story without introducing Rocky, because the heart of the story is the relationship between him and Grace,” Miller said in a Reddit AMA. “As fans of the book, you know Rocky is the second lead of this movie. And what’s shown in the trailer is just a glimpse of what’s to come. Rocky is such a beautiful and ‘amaze-‘ing character, and we were all very thoughtful about what to show and when. You all know how much more there is to this story and relationship than what is shown in the trailer, and we’re excited for everyone to see where it goes!”

    Plus, as Weir said in his interview, “All trailers are designed to put butts in seats, and we want those butts in those seats. We want people to go, ‘Now I want to know what’s going on.’” And, by revealing that Gosling spends most of his screentime with an alien, you get a double dose of intrigue. Will this astronaut be able to save the world? And, also, how the heck is he going to interact with a rock alien?

    The answers to those questions, however, are the real spoilers and are certainly going to be held for March, when Project Hail Mary comes to theaters. Or, you know, the book has been out for over four years, so you could always check that out, too. We’d recommend it.

    Project Hail Mary opens March 20, 2026, and we cannot wait.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Germain Lussier

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  • Phil Lord, Chris Miller Reveal Themselves as Writers of Golden Globes “Studio Executives” Bit

    Phil Lord, Chris Miller Reveal Themselves as Writers of Golden Globes “Studio Executives” Bit

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    When Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse voice actors Hailee Steinfeld, Daniel Kaluuya and Shameik Moore took the stage to present best screenplay at the Golden Globes earlier this month, the trio claimed their intro had been written by studio executives.

    But, instead, it was Spider-Verse writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller who crafted the memorably stilted dialogue, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

    “We were really happy that they wanted to have Hailee, Shameik and Daniel present and present a prestigious award,” Lord tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think it’s a nice acknowledgment that the cast of our movie is full of Oscar nominees. Hailee is an Oscar nominee and an Academy member. Kaluuya is an [Oscar] winner. And we wanted to make sure they looked great. It’s a fun show, but you want to make sure you don’t go up there and whiff on a bit. So I think our objective was: How do we make something for them that makes them look great, that honors the category, that is still playful?”

    In coming up with the segment, the duo — who have a history of writing for the Lego and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs franchises and for Apple TV+’s The Afterparty but who admit they’re “not professional variety show writers” — came up with eight options, trading ideas and soliciting suggestions from friends even as late as the Friday before the awards show. The Spider-Verse team ran through the options in rehearsal, and they knew the “studio executives” bit was a winner.

    “It was very clear anytime it was pretend banter, it just always felt canned,” Lord says. “At least with the three of them, the thing that they gravitated toward and really were able to lean into and felt really confident about was the thing where they could play it really straight but still be in on the joke.”

    The segment also offered one of the show’s few allusions to last year’s writers strike, which was appreciated by the head writers for the Globes, who explained they hadn’t yet found a way to acknowledge the strike, Lord and Miller recall. “They were excited about the bit because it was a way to do it with a friendly touch,” says Miller.

    The moment was a hit with the star-studded audience, which included the executives who supported Spider-Verse who were sitting next to Lord, Miller and Spider-Verse directors Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson and Joaquim Dos Santos, who spoke with THR about the bit at the National Board of Review Awards last Thursday.

    All three directors, who were on hand to receive the best animated feature award, said they enjoyed the intro, adding that they were “cracking up” at the “hilarious moment.”

    Powers elaborated that he thought that segment reflected the film.

    “I think that speaks to the spirit of the film that we made and the characters that we had them portray,” Powers told THR. “It was great to have our actors in our film, who are great personalities in their own right, highlighted.”

    As for why they attributed the speech to studio executives and not AI, Miller calls the technology “comedy clam,” or something a bit “hackneyed.”

    “We certainly have no love for AI and don’t want it anywhere near script-writing,” he added.

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    Hilary Lewis

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