‘Dune’ Cinematographer Greig Fraser to Shoot Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s ‘Project Hail Mary’

Ryan Gosling stars in the sci-fi movie, which started filming Monday in London

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Greig Fraser at the Oscars (Getty Images)

Fresh off his jaw-dropping work on “Dune: Part Two,” cinematographer Greig Fraser will next shoot “Project Hail Mary,” a sci-fi film starring Ryan Gosling that began production Monday in London. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are directing the film, which is based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name and follows a teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up from a coma suffering amnesia in a different solar system.

Drew Goddard, who wrote the Ridley Scott-directed Weir adaptation “The Martian,” wrote the screenplay for “Project Hail Mary,” which marks the first live-action film from Lord and Miller since 2014’s “22 Jump Street.” They directed the initial version of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” but stepped off the project, for which they hired acclaimed cinematographer Bradford Young, over creative differences. They’ve kept busy though — the two are producers and writers on the “Spider-Verse” sequels, steered the “Clone High” revival on Max and Miller directed and created the Apple TV+ mystery series “The Afterparty.”

Fraser garnered attention with eye-popping work on films like Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” and Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher,” then won an Oscar for bringing Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” to life. He shot 2022’s “The Batman” and returned to shoot “Dune: Part Two,” which already has him in this year’s awards conversation.  

Fraser is also a pioneer of blending cutting-edge technology with gorgeous (and cinematic) cinematography as he helped develop the tech used to bring the “Star Wars” show “The Mandalorian” to life, now known as “the volume.” That tech allows filmmakers to render CG-created backgrounds and environments in real time, cutting down on the time necessary for post-production and providing more natural light for the live-action elements of a VFX-heavy scene.

Amazon MGM Studios will release “Project Hail Mary” in theaters on March 20, 2026.

Producers are Amy Pascal, Gosling, Lord, Miller, Aditya Sood, Rachel O’Connor and Weir.

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