A year ago, Ryan Gosling exited the role of Kane in 2023 Barbie – He appeared in Las Vegas for Amazon MGM Studios’ first official screening at CinemaCon by sharing footage from Hail Mary projecta film adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel about an eccentric but intelligent high school teacher who finds himself hurtling through space on a mission to stop the sun from dimming and destroying life everywhere. Along the way, he meets a brave alien he calls “Rocky.”
The dream team behind the sleeper hit film – as of April 19, has already topped all domestic tours Sand Dunes: Part Two and attractiveness With more than $285 million in domestic sales and nearly $600 million worldwide – including directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and screenwriter Drew Goddard, who adapted Ware. Martian For Fox, it’s head of new movies Courtenay Valenti, who spent years at Warner Bros., and Amazon Studios global marketing head Sue Kroll, who is also a Warners alumna.
Regarding the radical merger facing the Hollywood studio system, almost all the talk heading into this year’s CinemaCon centered on David Ellison’s audacious attempt to buy Warner Bros. Pictures. Discovery after being narrowly named Paramount’s new owner in August 2025. (Warner Bros. is leaps and bounds ahead of Paramount in terms of the scope of its slate after Paramount suffered years of financial neglect.)
But instead, Amazon MGM turned into a surprise studio star at CinemaCon, including when Gosling, its conquering hero, made a surprise appearance alongside Lord and Miller. To thank the theater owners for their support Peace be upon you, Mary. Gosling then handed a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card to a woman in the audience.
“In fact, tonight Amazon is doing more than just talking about its commitment to theater — it’s honoring it by expanding the exclusive theatrical window for Hail Mary project“This is something that was important to all of us as filmmakers as well,” he said. He was already well liked by theater owners going into the convention. A month ago, Gosling also made a surprise appearance, this time at a screening of the film on Saturday in New York City, where he said Hollywood should stop blaming cinema operators and do a better job of producing movies that people want to see. When the comments went viral in yet another testament to his marketing instincts.
While the offerings from Disney, Universal and Warners were widely praised, insiders also praised Amazon’s MGM for being a major, full-fledged studio. “The fact that Amazon MGM has emerged for the second year in a row is great news for the industry,” says one studio chief.
The headlines generated by Gosling’s appearance at CinemaCon have certainly paid off. Part of Peace be upon you, MaryThe extended screening included returning the film to Imax screens just as CinemaCon concludes on April 16. During the weekend of April 17-19, Peace be upon you, Mary It dropped just 15 percent in its fifth weekend to an estimated US$20.4 million for a domestic cume of US$285 million and US$573.1 million worldwide. It was expected to fall by at least 20 percent, and even that would be good.
“As I constantly tell our team, our ambition for the theatrical film is in the top half of the project Peace be upon you, Mary It’s just the beginning. While some of our competitors have been in and out of theatrical waters, for us, this is not a test or experiment. Our commitment to release at least 15 films each year in your theaters is on schedule,” Mike Hopkins, The head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios told exhibitors at CinemaCon. “To support this commitment, we are building an international distribution organization – one that we hope will be up and running later this year.” (To that end, Amazon has hired Helen Moss, a longtime international executive at Paramount Pictures.)
Peace be upon you, Mary It’s been a particular boon for the domestic box office, which had lagged badly earlier in the year, and put extra pressure on tried-and-true franchises to do all the work, like Super Mario Galaxy The movie is in a few weeks Peace be upon you, Mary.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior box office analyst at Comscore, says the film and its screening “will be seen as a textbook example” of how to harness the power of both legacy studio (MGM) and modern streaming (Amazon), calling it “a blueprint for how to make these two seemingly opposing worlds complementary.”
That’s not to say every Amazon release has been a box office win. And earlier this year, both mercy and Crime 101 Poor performance.
Gosling was a hands-on creative leader and worldwide partner Peace be upon you, Mary The campaign, and observers noted that it succeeded because there was an inherent compatibility between Ryan’s character and the film itself. “His sense of humor, wit and charisma are part of the movie’s DNA,” says an executive at the rival studio.
“We’ve assembled a team with deep, legacy experience at the studio — many of whom you know well — leaders who have spent their careers launching films theatrically at the highest level,” said CinemaCon Theater’s Kroll. “That expertise is now being applied with a singular focus: not just releasing films, but supporting each film with the care, rigor and creativity it deserves.”
Read to Peace be upon you, MaryIts marketing tactics included press tours to London, Paris, and Mexico City, as well as press trips to science-focused locations such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Griffith Observatory.
*Shareable moments created driven by Gosling, including his own SNL Hosting the party and La la land spoof. There was also the “Ryan Gosling Believes in the Hail Mary” viral video series which also featured Gosling completing the impossible slam including throwing a football through a Randy’s Donuts sign in Los Angeles (over 10 million views) and dropping a Final Jeopardy question (50 million views).
*Gosling recorded a promotional video during the NFL NFC Championship Game highlighting the concept of the Hail Mary in sports and life, and it made the rounds on several talk shows. The film’s title stunts included celebrating with an audience full of teachers; A school band’s happy birthday tribute to his wife, Eva Mendes, and a surprise pop-up for Harry Styles (Styles’ song “Sign of the Times” was featured in the film).
* Partner with NASA, Sports, Faith, Family, Multicultural Communities, and Science/Technology for presentations, targeted multicultural engagement anchored in HBCU-focused programming with the Spelman College Speech and Debate Team.
* Integrations across the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Game, Winter Olympics, and coordinated global light shows in Taipei, Toronto, and Berlin.
*Deployed creator initiatives, including “Sun is Dying” pranks, fan edit campaigns, and YouTube ads led by Cleo Abram; Trailer fan edits and BookTok activation.
