If you thought the press tour for a sci-fi epic meant a few interviews and a red carpet, think again. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller just strapped themselves into moving seats, got blasted with water, and bounced around Los Angeles to show off all the wild ways you’ll be able to watch Project Hail Mary in theaters.
Last year, Ryan Coogler gave movie fans a detailed breakdown of the various formats for Sinners. Now Lord and Miller are doing their own version for Project Hail Mary, only they decided to make it a little more hands-on. And by hands-on, I mean wind-in-your-face, seat-shaking, water-spraying chaos.
The directing duo behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street went on a mini tour of L.A. theaters to experience their new sci-fi adventure in as many formats as possible.
The movie is actually being released in 12 different formats. The video showcases most of them, including the always intense 4DX experience, where the seats move and the theater blasts you with effects like smoke, wind, and water. Watching Lord and Miller get physically rattled by their own movie is half the fun.
Here’s the full rundown of the formats Project Hail Mary is hitting:
The video does a solid job explaining how most of these differ, from screen size to projection quality to sound systems. Two formats that don’t get much spotlight are HDR by Barco, which delivers ultra high-end projection and audio similar to Dolby Cinema, and MX4D, which is essentially another motion-enhanced experience in the same lane as 4DX.
The big reason all of this matters comes down to aspect ratio. Project Hail Mary shifts its framing throughout the film. About two-thirds of the movie takes place in space, and those sequences expand to fill significantly more of the screen compared to the Earth-based scenes.
Depending on the format, those expanded images hit differently. If you want the most immersive version of those space sequences, Lord and Miller seem to favor IMAX 70mm or IMAX 1:43. That’s where you’ll really feel the scale.
What’s cool about all this is that the filmmakers are actually taking time to explain the differences. For movie fans trying to decide whether to shell out for premium tickets, that context helps. You’re not just picking a bigger screen. You’re picking a version of the movie that’s been designed to play a little differently depending on where you sit.
Based on the novel by Andy Weir, the film stars Ryan Gosling and follows a lone astronaut tasked with saving humanity. It’s a high-concept sci-fi story with humor and heart, which feels right in Lord and Miller’s wheelhouse.
Project Hail Mary lands in theaters on March 20, and with a dozen different ways to watch it, you might need to start planning which version you’re going to try first.
