First Clip From ‘Project Hail Mary’ Released- Massive Practical Spaceship Set was Used as Director Clarifies the ‘No Green Screen’ Claim
The first clip from the upcoming sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary has been released, and it has sparked a lot of discussion about how the film was made. Co-director Chris Miller explained that even though the production avoided green screens, the movie still uses a large amount of visual effects.
Miller shared the clarification on X, where he responded to comments about the film’s production style. According to him, the “no green screen” approach was never meant to suggest that the movie has no VFX at all.
“Some clarification here: ‘no green screen’ doesn’t mean ‘no VFX’. There were, in fact, thousands of VFX shots in the film (2018!),” Miller wrote.
Some clarification here: "no green screen" doesn’t mean "no VFX”.
— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) March 4, 2026
There were, in fact, thousands of VFX shots in the film (2018!)
Green screen is sometimes used in lieu of building sets or figuring out locations/lighting in advance, which can be noticeable if not done carefully,… pic.twitter.com/m5LWzuhTT7
He explained that the creative team simply wanted to avoid relying on green screens as a replacement for real sets and lighting. Instead, they chose to build many environments for real, including the interior of the spaceship where most of the story takes place.
“Green screen is sometimes used in lieu of building sets or figuring out locations/lighting in advance, which can be noticeable if not done carefully, and is something we didn’t want to do. We built the entire interior of the Hail Mary ship – but within the ship, there were still wire and puppeteer removals and ceiling replacements, etc.”
The film is based on the novel by Andy Weir, the writer behind The Martian. In the story, Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a man who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there or what mission he is supposed to complete. His lonely situation changes when he meets Rocky, an alien who is also far away from home.
Miller also explained how some scenes outside the ship were filmed. Instead of using a typical green screen setup, the team used special backgrounds to create more natural lighting on the actor.
“When Ryan is outside on the hull of the ship, we shot him in front of a black background for space and a shifting hue background when he was up against the aurora of a planet which allowed for truer interactive light on him than a green screen would.”
Knock, knock, knock. The first #ProjectHailMary clip just dropped — only in theaters & IMAX March 20. Get tickets at link in bio. pic.twitter.com/zoxXRBP7pm
— Project Hail Mary (@projecthailmary) March 6, 2026
Even though the filmmakers focused on practical sets, visual effects still played a big role in finishing the movie. The large space shots and exterior views of the spaceship were created digitally by Industrial Light & Magic. The alien character Rocky was made using a mix of puppetry and animation by Framestore.
“The wide space exteriors and spaceship shots were entirely digital and beautifully done by ILM. Rocky was a seamless blend of puppetry and animation from Framestore. And other great work from many more. It really does take a village and we had the best of the best on our side.”
Miller directed the film together with Phil Lord. The duo previously worked on movies like The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, and they also wrote and produced the animated Spider-Verse films, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Project Hail Mary is set to arrive in theaters on March 20. Early reactions to the movie have already been very positive, and the newly released clip has given audiences their first look at the film’s practical spaceship set and visual style.
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