While Dhurandhar: The Revenge may have overshadowed all releases in March, Ryan Reynolds starrer space opera Project Hail Mary has quietly emerged as a hit in India. Reynolds, whose 2023 release Barbie generated fanfare, now stands behind Project Hail Mary in terms of India biz. From Dhurandhar: The Revenge blocking Project Hail Mary's IMAX release here, to screens opening up steadily due to fan demand, the latter truly turned the tide in its favour even against the Ranveer starrer spy thriller.

Project Hail Mary makes a silent statement at India box office

Project Hail Mary's India release was postponed by a week so that a direct clash with Dhurandhar 2 could be averted. About the delay, director Christopher Miller said, “We’ve got a sequel to a very popular Bollywood film coming out on that date; I heard about it. And I am happy.” Co-director Phil Lord added, “(That’s) good for the health of the global movie business and for Bollywood. There are great local productions, for sure.”

The screen count of Project Hail Mary was very low initially. However, as fans shared positive reviews and started to turn up in good numbers, not only was the Hollywood release allotted more screens, IMAX screens were taken away from Dhurandhar 2 and given to Project Hail Mary. In its first week here, the movie minted ₹24.70 crore, followed by ₹20.30 crore in week 2. By its ongoing third week (19th day on April 14) at the ticket window, Project Hail Mary has already collected over ₹56 crore nett and over ₹65 crore gross, with more to come. Reynolds has also scored his biggest grosser in India in Project Hail Mary, surpassing ₹46.43 crore biz of Barbie.

Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes from a coma with amnesia on a starship, the only survivor. He must recall his mission to save Earth from a solar-dimming parasite, astrophage, by partnering with an alien, Rocky, to solve a cosmic crisis.