Project Hail Mary is creating waves worldwide and even in India, it has surprised the trade and industry with its collections. The film has barely dropped in the weekdays, and the first-week collections are expected to be around Rs. 26-27 crores. This is a feat, considering the competition from Dhurandhar The Revenge. Bollywood Hungama reported last week that the Hollywood film struggled to secure IMAX showings despite being filmed in IMAX. On March 26, the day of its release, it was released in just 6 out of 34 IMAX cinemas in India. Thanks to the impact of our viral article, fan power and constant efforts by Sony Pictures, the film was released in all the IMAX theatres of India from Friday, March 27. At the same time, the demand was so huge that Eros Cinema in Mumbai played a show at 3:45 am. A few more cinemas also followed suit in the days to come.
One of the producers of Project Hail Mary, Aditya Sood, happened to be in India the week the film had its release in the country. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Aditya opened up about this dramatic development. He said, “Our job is to make the film and convince everyone to go see it. I think what’s amazing is that the audience here has really said that they want to see it. I am hoping that we are going to play it in an IMAX for a long time. It seems like there’s a movement to have more and more IMAX shows, so that you don’t have to see it at 3:45 in the morning!”
He added, “On a serious note, it is a movie meant to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. And seeing it in IMAX is really special.”
When asked if it’ll remain exclusively in IMAX for a certain number of weeks, Aditya Sood replied, “I won’t be surprised if that’s there, though I am not as aware. Anyway, it’s always a fluid situation. I think if people speak up and demand that they want it, then it’ll happen as the customer is always right!”
The reason why Project Hail Mary couldn’t secure IMAX shows is because of Dhurandhar The Revenge. Has he had the chance to see the Ranveer Singh-starrer? The producer replied, “I have been travelling. So, I haven’t had a chance to see it. But I am excited to see it as it has become such a phenomenon!”
Aditya Sood is also a part of the Spider-Verse films. The last film, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023), collected around Rs. 45 crores and was the biggest animated hit in India, before Mahavatar Narsimha (2025) claimed the spot. Nevertheless, the excitement is tremendous for the next installment, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse, which will be released on June 18, 2027.
Aditya Sood confessed, “That franchise is quite special to us. In the last film, we were able to do a Mumbai sequence. I wanted to personally bring the most authentic version of India in any way that I could contribute. We really worked hard to do that. Karan Soni is my friend. We worked on Deadpool films together and he’s the voice of Pavitr Prabhakar. The other personal thing for me was that Inspector Singh was voiced by my father (Narender Sood)! Chris and Phil insisted that my dad play that character. He has never acted before. That was a very special thing.
As Aditya Sood mentioned Deadpool, it suddenly struck us that he has worked with two actors named Ryan – Ryan Gosling as well as Ryan Reynolds. Aditya Sood shared, “Oh yes! Both are amazing. They are so unique. Both are different, but they are also movie stars in the truest sense of the word.”
He then explained his Indian connection, “I feel fortunate to be able to make movies. It’s all I wanted to do my whole life. My parents went to a medical school in New Delhi. They fell in love. They got married, after which I was born in England. But I grew up in Seattle. I was always surrounded by Indian culture. In the early 80s, we were the first families on the block to have a VCR! That was the only way my parents could stay connected to India without travelling to India. In fact, I don’t think we had a dining room table, but we definitely had a VCR!”
He continued, “Since there was no big Indian community around, we would drive from Seattle to Vancouver. My parents would rent 4 Bollywood, clearly pirated, movies! They would come home, watch them and then return the copies. The unintended consequence was that I watched Star Wars 100 times one summer as I fell in love with it. Then I realized that the stories in Star Wars, Greek and Roman mythology as well as Indian mythology, were all the same. That’s where it all started for me.”
Does he remember watching Hindi films while growing up? Aditya Sood immediately replied, “In 1981, when I was 5, my mother and I came to India for three months. I think I saw every film which was released that year, be it Silsila, Laawaris or Ek Duuje Ke Liye. Chashme Buddoor was my favourite film. I must have seen that film 4 or 5 times in the theatre. I remember Miss Chamko even today. It was the funniest film I had ever seen (smiles).”
Since he has an Indian connection, would he like to make a Hindi film someday? Aditya Sood revealed, “It's been a long-time dream of mine to make a film in India. I can’t talk about it just yet. However, we have the rights to a true story that takes place in India. We will really bring it to the screen soon.”
More Pages: Dhurandhar The Revenge Box Office Collection , Dhurandhar The Revenge Movie Review
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