Sloan Science in Cinema Prize: Project Hail Mary
Celebrating SFFILM’s 10th year partnering with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, we bring you this year’s Sloan Science in Cinema prize winner, Project Hail Mary.
Description
Phil Lord and Chris Miller bring Andy Weir’s beloved novel to the screen in a spectacular, big-hearted adventure that turns scientific problem-solving into pure cinematic joy. Adapted by Drew Goddard, who previously brought Weir’s The Martian to the big screen, the film follows biology teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who awakens alone aboard a spacecraft with an impossible dual assignment: figure out why the sun is dying and save humanity. Drawing on physics, astronomy, biology, engineering and chemistry, Project Hail Mary makes scientific discovery the engine of its story. Gosling’s effortless comic timing keeps the film buoyant, while James Ortiz’s extraordinary work as Rocky creates an irresistible alien counterpart. A breakout box-office success, Project Hail Mary proves there is a massive audience for intelligent spectacle when curiosity is treated as an adventure. Funny, visually dazzling, and genuinely enthusiastic about discovery, this is science fiction that makes you want to solve the problem right alongside its heroes. —Jessie Fairbanks
The Sloan Science in Cinema Prize celebrates the compelling depiction of scientific themes or characters in a narrative feature film. The program celebrates and highlights cinema that brings together science and the art of storytelling, showing how these two seemingly disparate areas can combine to enhance the power of one another. The selections are meant to immerse a broad public audience in the challenges and rewards of scientific discovery, as well as to engage members of the scientific community.
Attendee Information
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Trailer
Biographies
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are the Academy Award-winning duo behind some of today’s most successful and inventive films and series, including the Spider-Verse and Lego Movie franchises, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, 21 & 22 Jump Street, Cocaine Bear, Strays, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Afterparty, and Clone High.
Lord and Miller most recently directed and produced the feature Project Hail Mary, which has been one of the biggest films of 2026 so far. The film was an adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel of the same name and starred Ryan Gosling for Amazon MGM. It released in theaters on March 20, 2026, and quickly became Amazon MGM Studios’ highest-grossing film ever, surpassing $684 million at the global box office. The film currently holds a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and was lauded for its emotional heart, breathtaking visuals, and Gosling’s performance, making it one of the most well-received films of the year.
On the features side, the duo wrote and produced all three films of the Spider-Verse franchise: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), which won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for “Best Animated Feature” and over 20 critics’ prizes; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), which earned Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations, seven Annie Awards, and a Critics Choice Award for “Best Animated Feature,” grossing over $690 million worldwide; and the third film of the franchise, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which will be released in theaters on June 18, 2027.
Other films produced by Lord and Miller include the Amazon MGM feature The Sheep Detectives (2026), Los Frikis (Miami Film Festival 2024), Cocaine Bear (2023), Strays (2023), and The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021), which became Netflix’s biggest animated film that year and earned an Academy Award nomination for “Best Animated Feature.”
The pair launched The Lego Movie franchise with their 2014 hit, which debuted at #1 and remained on top of the box office for four straight weeks as the year’s fifth highest-grossing domestic release. They also directed 21 and 22 Jump Street and wrote and directed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
In television, Lord and Miller are executive producers on the MGM+ and Prime Video series Spider-Noir, which stars Nicolas Cage and premiered on Prime Video on May 25, 2026 to rave reviews and still holds a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Lord and Miller were also behind Apple TV+’s The Afterparty (2022–23), created, written, and directed by Miller, with Lord executive producing. They also produced the Max revival of their acclaimed animated series Clone High, which premiered its third season in February 2024.
The duo has multiple projects in development, including a Universal Pictures film inspired by the Archie comics, multiple live-action and animated shows based on Sony’s Marvel Characters, The In-Claus, a feature based on the novel “The Six: The Extraordinary Story of the Grit and Daring of America’s First Women Astronauts,” The Last Expedition written by Carly Wray based on a story by Andy Weir, and Everyday Parenting Tips, written by Braun based on the story by Simon Rich.
Drew Goddard is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated film and television screenwriter, director, and producer. Goddard began his career writing for the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and quickly made a name for himself writing and producing genre-defining shows such as Alias, Angel, and Lost. In 2008, he made his initial foray into screenwriting with Cloverfield, and in 2010 he made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed genre-defying film, The Cabin in the Woods. In 2015, he received his first Academy award nomination for his adaptation of The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film went on to receive multiple nominations at both the Golden Globes and Oscars, including a win for Best Motion Picture at the Globes. That same year, Goddard created and executive produced Daredevil for Marvel and Netflix. In 2018, he continued to defy genre conventions with his acclaimed sophomore film, Bad Times at the El Royale, starring Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Cailee Spaeny, and Lewis Pullman. From 2016 to 2020, he directed multiple episodes of the Emmy-winning comedy series The Good Place (including the pilot) while serving as its executive producer.
Under his Goddard Textiles banner, he has created and produced multiple projects including the smash hit High Potential at ABC (starring Kaitlin Olson). The series made its debut in Fall 2024 and quickly became the No.1 drama in broadcast television, claiming the top spot in both the 18-49 demographic and total viewers.
Upcoming, Goddard will write, direct, and produce the highly anticipated next installment of The Matrix for Warner Bros. Goddard will also serve as an executive producer on Netflix’s highly-anticipated supernatural drama Pagans and Hulu’s series Phony starring Connie Britton and Sam Nivola. As a writer, director, and producer, Goddard’s films have generated over $1.5 billion dollars in worldwide box office. He lives with his wife and children in Los Angeles.
Ron Radeztsky is a key member of the Lucasfilm Advanced Development Group, specializing in high-performance computing. He has designed and developed core technologies behind ILM’s Emmy-winning visual effects technology StageCraft, used in films and shows such as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi Wan Kenobi. His real-time streaming systems have powered on-screen animated elements in StageCraft shows, as well as in ILM’s VR, and AR experiences, including Vader Immortal and the Academy Award®-winning CARNE y ARENA.
Most recently, in collaboration with Visual Effects Supervisor Tristan Myles, and CG Supervisor Shaun Roth, Radeztsky developed a new rendering system capable of rapidly creating scientifically realistic images of our Galaxy, containing over a billion stars, shown from any desired viewpoint in space. This system was used to create accurate starfield backgrounds for the film Project Hail Mary.
With advanced degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysics, Radeztsky has previously worked as a researcher at Arizona State University, NASA, and Boeing, publishing multiple scientific papers. He also developed real-time physics simulations and game engine software at Rainbow Studios.