Milana Vayntrub Joins Amazon MGM Studios’ Upcoming ‘Project Hail Mary’ Movie

Anthony D'Alessandro

17 June 2024 at 2:44 pm·2-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Milana Vayntrub has boarded the Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming movie Project Hail Mary, joining previously announced cast members Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are directing the film from a script by Drew Goddard. Producers include Amy Pascal via Pascal Pictures; Gosling via General Admission; Lord, Miller and Aditya Sood via Lord Miller; Rachel O’Connor via Pascal Pictures; and Andy Weir.

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In Project Hail Mary, which is based on The Martian author Weir’s novel of the same name, middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He must figure out how to complete his interstellar mission to save Earth from an astronomical catastrophe completely alone, until he meets a mysterious alien who has traveled light years to save his own species from the same fate.

Project Hail Mary will be shot in Imax and released wide in theaters on March 20, 2026. Oscar-winning Dune DP Greig Fraser is the cinematographer. Executive producers are Lucy Kitada and Nikki Baida via Lord Miller; Goddard; Sarah Esberg; Ken Kao; and Patty Whitcher.

Vayntrub most recently starred alongside Kyra Sedgwick in the comedy Bad Shabbos, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Festival and won the audience award. She co-wrote, directed and starred the short film Pickled Herring, currently streaming on Omeleto, which made the festival rounds and garnered the Audience Choice Award at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival. Also this year, Vayntrub launched an original podcast Your Mom is a Podcast, which she co-produces and hosts with comedian Sandeep Parikh.

Her acting credits include Kevin Hart’s Die Hart, Paul Feig’s Other Space, HBO’s Silicon Valley, NBC’s This Is Us, Netflix’s Love, Showtime’s Californication, IFC Films’ Werewolves Within, Fox’s Ghostbusters and Netflix’s A Futile & Stupid Gesture. She also lent her voice to Squirrel Girl in Marvel Rising: Initiation.

Vayntrub is also recognized for her role of Lily in the long-running ad campaign for AT&T. Originally cast for a single spot in 2013, she stole the campaign and has since appeared in more than 40 spots, working with the company both in front of and behind the camera. In addition to the AT&T spots, she has directed numerous national and regional commercials, and her writing credits include Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and numerous online videos for the popular comic shorts website CollegeHumor Originals.

Vayntrub is repped by Artists First.

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