‘Project Hail Mary’ Directors Screened a Nearly Four-Hour Cut to Other Filmmakers and Were Told to Get it Way Shorter

That and the stuff Stratt did that she thought would end her up in prison forever. It’s not necessary for the Grace Rocky relationship and the primary theme of Grace becoming heroic.

Yeah when we get to Adrienne, as a reader I kept thinking “wow wow wow, slow down!”  The stakes never felt big in the movie - always expedited. I do think it could be 15/20 minutes longer to let those land.  Other than that, the adaptation was a masterclass - it got everything it needed to get from the book and took just the right amount of liberties to make it work as a film.

A ton of the more problem solving science stuff was either cut or part of a montage where they just show Grace doing science stuff. In the book its all explained but the movie pacing was a little too fast.

>!“But you’d need a ship to go the speed of light!” “Good thing we have one.”!< >!“I wonder what’s causing the astrophage to be contained!” “It must be an organism on the planet!!< I completely understand why they had to do it this way but it was just funny how a great mystery was solved almost immediately.

Even those weren't close to assembly cuts. There are loads of scenes we have seen clips of or stills, that never made it into any version of the films.

*21 Jeff Street

The amoeba escape and search for Rocky's ship was definitely one of the biggest cuts, and karaoke one of the biggest additions, but I think both are justified from an overall character perspective. That entire amoeba escape sequence contributes very little to the central character arcs of the movie. Grace's arc is all about learning to trust Rocky, then overcoming his cowardice through love of a friend. Having Grace solve tedious technical problems by himself doesn't really forward that arc at all. The important part is the subsequent decision to run away or save Rocky. So the movie speeds through the amoeba problem offscreen to get to the important character beat. The last chunk of the movie also cannot afford to drag, since the audience already sat through a fakeout ending. The audience is prepared for you to wrap things up, not do a bunch of technical exposition. The karaoke scene, by contrast, is all about characterizing Stratt. She is a cold, pragmatic character who betrays our hero and condemns him to death, so the audience is going to want to write her off as the villain. The karaoke scene gives her a moment to show vulnerability and humanity, and to make it clear how much she respects and cares for Grace and the crew. She isn't an ego-tripping maniac who thinks she's above everyone. She values her chats with Grace, and she is willing to be vulnerable with her crew. This drives home the fact that she doesn't send Grace to space out of malice or disregard, but specifically because she believes in him. I felt the scene ran a little long, but it was pretty important to the characters. Without all the time bonding with Stratt that the book can afford, I think a scene like the karaoke was necessary.