Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi epic holds firm for a second straight weekend. Here’s what happened, what the numbers mean, and what comes next.
The US box office weekend of March 2026 had one story and everything else was a footnote. Project Hail Mary easily topped the box office for the second consecutive weekend, bringing in $54.5 million — a -32% drop from its $80.5 million debut — signalling real staying power for Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi epic.
That hold percentage is the number to focus on. A -32% second-weekend drop is bigger than Oppenheimer ($46.7M, -43%), Dune: Part Two ($46.2M, -44%), and even last year’s Sinners ($45.7M, though that had an extraordinary -4.8% hold). For a $200 million non-franchise, non-sequel film, those comparisons carry real weight.
US Box Office Chart : Weekend of March 27–29, 2026
(Source: Variety, Deadline Hollywood, Rotten Tomatoes)
| Rank | Film | Weekend Gross | Weeks Out | Domestic Cume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Project Hail Mary | $54.5M | 2 | $164.3M |
| 2 | Hoppers (Pixar) | $12.2M | 4 | $138.5M |
| 3 | They Will Kill You | $5.0M | 1 | $5.0M |
| 4 | Dhurandhar: The Revenge | $4.75M | 2 | — |
| 5 | Reminders of Him | $4.7M | 3 | $41M |
| 6 | Ready or Not 2: Here I Come | — | 2 | — |
| 7 | Scream 7 | — | 4 | $114M+ |
| 8 | GOAT | $2.2M | 6 | $100.8M |
Project Hail Mary: The Year’s First True Blockbuster
As of March 27, 2026, Project Hail Mary has grossed $164 million in the United States and Canada and $137 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $301 million. That makes it the highest-grossing MPA title of 2026 so far and officially Amazon MGM’s biggest film since acquiring MGM in 2022.
The film’s trajectory is the more interesting story. Its ten-day domestic cume of $164.3M puts it 33% ahead of Sinners at the same point in time — a film that ended its domestic run at $279.9M — and 5% ahead of Dune: Part Two, which finished at $282.1M. A domestic run ending somewhere between $265M and $300M is now plausible, with the Easter holiday weekend ahead providing a natural boost.
Its impressive results are particularly welcome for Amazon MGM, which is investing heavily in theatrical releases, committing to roughly a dozen films annually. Until Project Hail Mary, the company’s 2026 slate had produced several high-profile disappointments. The film’s success validates a strategy that was looking shaky as recently as February.
Hoppers Holds, But Faces Competition
Pixar’s Hoppers earned another $12.2M this weekend, putting it at $138.5M domestically. It is not far behind The Croods, which had a $13.1M fourth weekend and a 24-day total of $142.4M. Next weekend represents a significant challenge as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie arrives on April 1 to absorb the family audience that has been sustaining Hoppers.
Globally, Hoppers has become the top-grossing Hollywood film at the global box office with $242.6M in ticket sales through Sunday, the top-grossing film domestically, animated or otherwise.
They Will Kill You: The Weekend’s Clear Disappointment
The weekend’s only major new wide release, They Will Kill You, was effectively dead on arrival — earning an anemic $5M domestically from 2,778 locations for a third-place finish. The Warner Bros. and New Line release cost $20M to produce, still a poor result given the studio’s share of ticket sales goes to theater owners.
This follows a bruising run for Warner Bros. in early 2026. They Will Kill You arrives just weeks after The Bride, a $90M steampunk reimagining of The Bride of Frankenstein – bombed with a disastrous $23.2M global total. Two misfires in the same genre window in the same quarter is not a pattern any studio wants to establish heading into the summer.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge Makes the Top 5
An interesting footnote to this US box office weekend: Dhurandhar: The Revenge — the Indian spy-action sequel starring Ranveer Singh, placed fourth domestically with $4.75M. In North America specifically, the film has been breaking Indian cinema records all week. More on that in our India Box Office analysis
What Comes Next at the US Box Office
The US box office weekend of March 27–29 leaves 2026 in a genuinely positive position. Domestic box office totals for 2026 are up 23% compared to this time last year: a number that would have looked like fantasy at the start of the year.
The next major test arrives April 1 with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, expected to be one of the biggest openings of the year. Whether it co-exists peacefully with Project Hail Mary or cannibalises its audience will tell us a great deal about how deep the theatrical recovery actually runs.
