Project Hail Mary

Based on a bestselling novel by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle school science teacher tasked with saving Earth from a mysterious organism that is dimming the sun. Compounding the challenge is the fact that he awakes from a coma having no idea how he got there in the first place.

The first forty or so seconds of the trailer focus on atmospheric synths and ticking sounds meant to compel a general sense of anticipation, emphasizing key points in the on-screen action. It’s generally geared toward the visual edit, such as the rapid cut at 0:41. Eerie synths layer on as we see Grace being briefed in what looks like a government control room, replete with a large astronomical radar screen. As he learns more, strains of the synth on top suggest a mixed-mode scale with a major third and a minor sixth, a common pattern to suggest or depict otherworldly subject matter.

At 1:06 the music drops out in a twist of comedic irony; Grace wonders aloud “who on Earth is going to sign up for this?”—and, of course, we see all eyes on him. At 1:10 we get a new sound in the mix—the “power down” sound often heard in action trailers. A frenetic storm outside is contrasted by the conversation indoors at 1:17, with the soundtrack dropping out again for a notable piece of silence. Epic percussion returns at 1:26 to foreshadow Grace’s space adventure.

At 1:28, after about a minute and a half of mostly rather generic trailer music tropes, the cover song lands: We’re treated to a trailerized rendition of Harry Styles’ 2017 track “Sign of the Times,” playing intermittently until the end. Like many trailers that use an existing song, the lyrics track pretty well on to the plot, in this case rather literally (“they told me that the end is near / we gotta get away from here”). Moreover, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the track is still enormously popular, with the official video racking up 1.4 billion views on YouTube alone as of this writing. Like the use of a-list talent like Gosling, Amazon is surely betting on an example of sure-fire pop culture to help sell a story that’s relatively unknown.

Notice at 1:43, there’s a person who seems to be doing karaoke of the same song, and her voice is just high enough in the mix to synch on the words “it’ll be alright”—further tying the sentiment of the song to the plot of the film. We also see the students pounding the desk in synch with the beat at 1:46.

The choice of song also keeps things relatively light and upbeat—even though Grace encounters a decidedly grotesque alien, the interactions seem benign, even humorous. The tone is geared towards wonder rather than horror.

Although the first minute and a half of the trailer fell into a bit of a holding pattern, deferring to lighter atmospheric sounds and sonic design tropes in trailer music, arguably the strategy ultimately pays off once “Sign of the Times” hits as a pleasant surprise. Combined with a couple of clever metadiegetic edits, the trailer finishes strong.

Project Hail Mary arrives in theatres March 20th 2026.

— Curtis Perry