When it comes to LEGO collaborations, you can usually predict what is in the pipeline based on the year’s IP and what has been a hit in the past. 2026 will bring more Minecraft, Harry Potter, Marvel, and Star Wars sets — we already know that — and the big Pokemon partnership is slated to kick off this year as well. But sometimes the coolest LEGO collaborations are the ones you don’t expect.
According to a new leak from within the LEGO community, there is at least one set planned for Project Hail Mary, the upcoming film starring Ryan Gosling. Out of all the films set to release this year, there are plenty that I would have thought would get LEGO sets. Avengers Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Super Mario Galaxy movie, heck, even Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey could get a LEGO set, and few would bat an eye. But Project Hail Mary? That’s a surprising one. But boy, is it an exciting one.
What is Project Hail Mary?
Project Hail Mary, for those who aren’t familiar, is an adaptation of the novel by Andy Weir. It’s about a biologist-turned-teacher who finds himself in space tasked with saving the human race. That’s all you need to know, and it’s well worth avoiding spoilers to preserve some of the fantastic surprises in the story.
I do highly recommend the book, though. Andy Weir is best known for The Martian, which was also turned into a successful feature film starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott. It, too, deals with a single man in an impossible situation in outer space – in this case, Mars – and how he applies real science to solve the problems in front of him. Weir creates such rich characters and intermixes humor, but it’s the way these characters problem-solve that makes his stories so compelling. You can’t go wrong with either The Martian or Project Hail Mary; they are both excellent books and you will devour them.
Of course, a fantastic book doesn’t always make for a great movie, but I think the Project Hail Mary adaptation has a dream team. Ryan Gosling has the right mix of humor and vulnerability to bring this character to life and command the screen. The duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller has, for my money, never made a bad movie. And then you have Drew Goddard back, adapting Andy Weir’s work after nailing The Martian. All of this together makes Project Hail Mary my most anticipated movie of the year, and you don’t have to wait that long to see it.
Few Would Have Expected a LEGO Project Hail Mary Set
But then. Oh wait. They’re making a LEGO set out of Project Hail Mary?! My mind is already racing with the possibilities. I would expect that the Hail Mary ship would be the focal point of the LEGO Project Hail Mary set, but I hope there’s more to it than that. Really, I hope that a certain character (if you’ve read the book, you know) gets their own minifig, if not more. If LEGO just makes that minifig and that’s it, I’d be happy.
Maybe the LEGO set will be small, but whatever the case may be, I’m happy that LEGO is being a little more adventurous with its LEGO sets. The Stranger Things Creel House set a tone of predictability for the year, but I’m always looking for those surprises, even if they are attached to well-established properties. The LEGO Game Boy came out of nowhere, but it is a fantastic set.
And just to keep my hopes in check, there is still the chance that the rumors are not true, but LEGO leaks are pretty solid these days – just look at all the information we have about the Pokemon sets, from the piece counts to the prices. And I don’t want to imagine a scenario where I’ve built up all this excitement over a LEGO Project Hail Mary set, and it doesn’t happen. Ryan Gosling needs the minifig treatment.
