Ryan Gosling casting for Project Hail Mary was 'dream'

"It was a dream. Ryan Gosling was already attached when they came to me. Any fear I had about how we were going to pull this off was instantly allayed by the knowledge that Ryan was doing this with us," Goddard told told The Hollywood Reporter. 

"He can do anything. Whatever I write, he's going to be able to pull off. That set a tone of knowing this was going to be really difficult but also knowing we were in good hands with our lead."

Project Hail Mary is based on the 2021 science fiction novel by American writer Andy Weir, which tells the story of a school teacher and former biologist Ryland Grace (Gosling), who wakes up aboard a spacecraft afflicted with amnesia.

While movie budgets are being slashed across the board, Goddard insisted Project Hail Mary needed it's mega budget and he hopes its success will provide hope for new projects across the board.

"A lot of my worry about the budget goes into the decision to do the project. Before I start writing, I want to make sure that what I think it's going to cost lines up with what we think it's going to take," he said.

"I've learned from experience, if they feel comfortable, they're going to let me be crazier. So, something like Cabin in the Woods was so crazy. I knew we needed to make that for cheap. So I write that to be affordable, because then they'll let me go bananas in the end. 

"With this one, there was no cheap version of this movie. We're not making this unless we're big and swinging for the fences. But it did feel like the type of movie you could do that. It felt like the type of movie that you're gonna bring your kids to, you're gonna bring your grandparents to. 

"That's what you're looking for to justify the budgets. And when I'm writing it, I try to be thoughtful. But I don't try to ever undercut the ambition. I have a big imagination. 

"Once we've made the decision to say yes, we don't really think about budget. It's more about what's going to make the best movie."