Project Hail Mary is bringing audiences to movie theaters in numbers the industry hasnt seen for a non-franchise film since Oppenheimer. The science fiction epic starring Ryan Gosling earned around $80.5 million in ticket sales in its first weekend playing in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. Box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that translates into about 5 million ticket buyers.The PG-13 rated film opened on 4,007 screens and easily topped the domestic box office charts, surpassing expectations to become the biggest of the year and delivering a record opening for studio Amazon MGM, whose previous best was Creed III ($58 million in 2023). Not accounting for inflation, Project Hail Mary also scored the second biggest opening for a non-franchise movie behind only Oppenheimer, which opened to $82.4 million in 2023.Its now one of only three non-franchise movies in the past decade to open over $70 million (the third is Jordan Peeles Us ). In the realm of modern space operas, it exceeded the debuts of The Martian, also an Andy Weir adaptation that opened around $54.3 million in 2015, Gravity ($55.6 million in 2013) and Interstellar ($47.5 million in 2014).RELATED STORY | Movie tickets cost how much? Here's how to stop overpayingInternationally, Project Hail Mary earned $60.4 million from 82 markets, bringing its global total to $140.9 million.We all know theatrical is not an easy business. It's tougher today I think than it's ever been, Kevin Wilson, Amazon MGM Studios head of domestic distribution, told The Associated Press on Sunday. And sci-fi movies, to break out to a broad audience, is not the easiest thing to do.And yet the results of the weekend put them in rarefied air alongside Oppenheimer, which Wilson said is certainly something special. The film is playing broadly across the country with markets like Salt Lake City, Denver and Portland overindexing which, Wilson said, suggests that they're getting some family audiences too.Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary cost about double the Oppenheimer production budget, with a price tag in the $200 million range. But it also carries strong reviews and audience scores and could be destined for a long run. According to PostTrak exit polls, where it scored five out of five stars, 83% of audiences said they would definitely recommend the film to friends. The gender breakdown skewed slightly more male (57%), and 55% of the audience were under 35.In an era where the draw of movie stars is always in question, Wilson said, It leaves no doubt that Ryan Gosling is a singular star that has the massive global appeal and charisma to anchor a story like this."The film is centered around Gosling's character who wakes up alone and with little memory on a spaceship, where his apparent mission is to try to save the sun from dying. As has become the norm for event movies like Project Hail Mary, premium large format screens were in demand, making up 56% of the weekends gross. IMAX screens alone accounted for $$27.6 million of the global total.The next interesting piece will be how long can this movie play, which I think could be something special, Wilson said.Project Hail Mary will have a second weekend essentially free of big competition until it loses its IMAX screens to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on April 1.IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | 'One Battle After Another' triumphs at 98th Academy Awards in coronation for Paul Thomas AndersonHollywoods other big new opener, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, a Searchlight release, came in a distant fourth with $9.1 million, behind Disney and Pixar's Hoppers ($18 million) and the Bollywood sequel Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which made $9.6 million from Friday through Sunday according to the U.S. distributor; Comscore is projecting a slightly higher $10 million figure. Universals Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders of Him rounded out the top five in its second weekend with $8 million.Viva Pictures also released an animated adaptation of the popular childrens book The Pout-Pout Fish in 1,854 theaters, which landed in ninth place with $1.5 million.The year-to-date box office is now up around 21%, according to Comscore.The performance of Project Hail Mary is a momentum builder like no other and its reinvigorating the movie marketplace, said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's head of marketplace trends. This is a momentum business, and this is exactly what the industry needed right now.Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. Project Hail Mary, $80.5 million.2. Hoppers, $18 million.3. Dhurandhar: The Revenge, $10 million.4. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, $9.1 million.5. Reminders of Him, $8 million.6. Scream 7, $4.3 million.7. Goat, $3.7 million.8. Undertone, $3 million.9. The Pout-Pout Fish, $1.5 million.10. MET Opera: Tristan und Isolde, $722,499. ...read more read less