Box Office Round-Up ~ 3/23/26

Getting any movie that isn’t part of a well-established franchise to do well in theaters these days is something of a Hail Mary, so perhaps it was fate that Project Hail Mary was the movie to beat the odds. The first directorial effort in a decade from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, based on a novel by Andy Weir (author of The Martian, which was also adapted for the screen by Drew Goddard) and starring Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary opened to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, grossing $80.5 million in the U.S. It’s already cleared well over $100 million worldwide, and is on track to pass Hoppers and Scream 7 as the highest grossing movie of 2026 so far.

Speaking of Hoppers, the Disney/Pixar comedy reached $120 million domestically, grossing $18 million in its third weekend in theaters. In third place, Indian action sequel Dhurandar: The Revenge opened in the U.S. with $9.3 million. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come opened in fourth place, grossing $9.3 million to surpass the $8 million opening weekend of the original Ready or Not back in 2019. Reminders of Him rounded out the top five with $8 million, putting it at $33 million after two weekends.

With very few notable new releases remaining in March, Project Hail Mary has a clear field to win the box office again this coming weekend and for the rest of the month until April 1, when it will have to contend with a very different outer space movie in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

1. Project Hail Mary ($80.5 MM)
Director: Phil Lord (UTA), Christopher Miller (UTA)
Writers: Drew Goddard (UTA)
Cast: Ryan Gosling (CAA)
Milana Vayntrub (Innovative Artists)
Sandra Hüller (UTA)

2. Hoppers ($18 MM)
Director: Daniel Chong
Writers: Daniel Chong, Jesse Andrews (WME)
Cast: Piper Curda (Prototype Talent Agency)
Bobby Moynihan (UTA)
Jon Hamm (CAA)

3. Dhurandar: The Revenge ($9.3 MM)
Director: Aditya Dhar
Writers: Aditya Dhar, Ojas Gautam, Shivkumar V. Panicker
Cast: Ranveer Singh (WME)
Madhavan
Arjun Rampal (Zero Gravity Management)

4. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come ($9.1 MM)
Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (CAA), Tyler Gillett (CAA)
Writers: Guy Busick (Verve), R. Christopher Murphy (Verve), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (CAA), Tyler Gillett (CAA)
Cast: Samara Weaving (CAA)
Kathryn Newton (WME)
Elijah Wood (Gersh)

5. Reminders of Him ($8 MM)
Director: Vanessa Caswill (CAA)
Writers: Lauren Levine (UTA)
Cast: Maika Monroe (WME)
Bradley Whitford (Gersh)
Tyriq Withers (CAA)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers