Project Hail Mary book author Andy Weir answers burning questions raised by the film's ending.
Key Points
The Martian writer gives his thoughts on Ryland Grace's decision to stay behind on Rocky's planet, Erid.
He also reveals how long it would take Ryland to get back to Earth, and what the world would be like by the time Sandra Hüller's Eva Stratt receives the Taumoeba.
Warning: This article contains spoilers aboutProject Hail Mary.
Against all odds,Project Haily Maryends with a touchdown.
Unlikely besties Ryland (Ryan Gosling) and Rocky (performed by puppeteer James Ortiz) save the day, literally, on Earth and Rocky's native Erid, by creating a microorganism (dubbed Taumoeba) that eats Astrophage, the pesky organisms that have been feasting on each planet's star.
As in the book, Ryland, lacking the fuel to return to Earth, journeys with his alien buddy back to his planet instead. There, Rocky's fellow Eridians build Ryland a beachfront compound inside a special habitat, protecting the Earthling from their planet's crushing gravity and toxic-to-humans atmosphere. They even set up a classroom where the school-teacher-turned-reluctant-astronaut can tutor young Eridians in Earth science and language.
While Rocky would love for Ryland to stay forever, his planet's engineers have also set about fixing his spaceship, the Hail Mary, should he decide to risk a journey home. Besides the perils of a multi-year space flight, there's another major problem: Ryland has no idea whether the Astrophage he sent back to Earth on probes made it home safely.
"Rocky does tell him, 'Hey, we can fuel up the Hail Mary now, and you can go home,'" Weir tellsEntertainment Weekly, describing the end of his book. "And he thought about it and decided either against it or decided he'd think about it for a bit because honestly, he doesn't know what's there. He doesn't know what's waiting for him on Earth. I mean, it could be a complete post-apocalyptic nightmare, and here he is with his best friend doing what he loves."
While Ryland never sees Earth again, the movie briefly depicts what the planet looks like when Sandra Hüller's Eva Stratt, the leader of the multinational coalition that sent him on his mission, receives the news that the probes have finally landed. In short, home looksverycold.
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Asked for more details on the state of the world when the probes arrive, Weir at first demurs. "I don't define things that are outside the pages, or in this case, outside the screenplay, because you're basically kind of asking me to write a sequel," he says with a laugh. "But yeah, you can assume that 25 years after the Astrophage problem began, things are probably pretty cold on Earth."
As for the remaining population, it's never confirmed on screen or in the book, but in both versions, a climatologist theorizes that, around 19 years after the crisis, famine would have killed half of humanity. Given that the Taumoeba reached Earth about seven years after that, it's safe to assume the Earth's population is far less than half. By the time scientists implement the Taumoeba and revive the sun, it's possible that only a few billion people or fewer (or the currently eight-plus billion) are left on the planet.
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If Ryland did decide to fly back home on the Hail Mary, Weir says the trip would take about 16 years from Earth's perspective, since Rocky's planet is about 16 light-years away, and Ryland would be traveling close to the speed of light. But from Ryland's point of view, he adds, "It would be between four and five years."
While the movie ends without revealing whether Ryland stays or goes, the book's epilogue makes clear that he and Rocky will spend the rest of their days together on Erid.
Project Hail Maryis now playing in theaters.
Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly