“Project Hail Mary” is setting records for Amazon MGM and lighting the path for a box-office revitalization.

The science fiction flick, starring Ryan Gosling, has tallied more than $300 million globally since its theatrical opening two weeks ago. That marks the best performance for an Amazon MGM film ever.

“The runaway success of ‘Project Hail Mary’ represents a key turning point for Amazon MGM giving the distributor its first $100 million plus domestic box office earner,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore.

“Project Hail Mary” has held notably strong at the box office since its debut, with only a 32% drop in ticket sales from its first weekend in the U.S. to its second and a nearly unheard of 5% decline internationally. A typical Hollywood blockbuster will see a 50% to 70% drop in ticket sales from opening weekend to the second weekend after the rush to the theater fades.

“When Amazon showcased ‘Project Hail Mary’ at CinemaCon exactly one year ago, it was clear the studio had big plans in mind,” said Shawn Robbins director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “After two incredible weekends so far, the movie is a major contributor in year-over-year box office gains.”

Domestically, the film has tallied about $165 million, helping to prop up first-quarter box-office numbers alongside Disney’s “Hoppers” and Paramount’s “Scream 7.” Through Sunday, the domestic box office has tallied $1.75 billion so far this year, up 23% from the same period last year.

Back in 2022, e-commerce giant Amazon and relative upstart movie studio MGM promised to spend around $1 billion each year on theatrical releases, a figure that would fund between 12 and 15 films annually. Last year, the company said it had 14 titles lined up for 2026.

This surge of theatrical content is just what the domestic box office needs. While blockbuster franchise films have been abundant in the wake of the pandemic, the overall number of wide releases has shrunk over the last decade. Even before Covid and dual Hollywood labor strikes slowed production down, Hollywood was making fewer and fewer movies each year, according to data from Comscore. 

At the same time that studios were altering their film slates, movie houses were merging. The most recent union between the Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox, first announced in 2017 and finalized in early 2019, resulted in the loss of between 10 and 15 film releases annually, Comscore data shows.

The pending merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery has Hollywood fearful of even fewer theatrical releases.

While Paramount has said it is committed to releasing 15 films from each studio, it’s unclear if the combined company will be able to keep up with that kind of production.

In the meantime, Amazon appears poised to fill a gap in the schedule.

The company’s upcoming slate is a diverse offering of films: Coming this year are features like “The Sheep Detectives,” a comedy murder mystery due out in May, the action-packed “Masters of the Universe” set for June and “Verity,” a psychological thriller adapted from the Colleen Hoover book of the same name, arriving in October.

Like “Project Hail Mary,” which is based on the book by Andy Weir, “Verity” may benefit from a built-in fanbase of readers who want to see the story translated to the big screen.

“Bottom line, ‘Project Hail Mary’ is the studio’s new gold standard for what they can accomplish in the world of cinema,” Robbins said. “That’s good news for an entire industry still adapting to the tailwinds of shorter windows, consolidation, and ever-evolving consumer habits. You can bet every studio, even the old guard, in the business will be looking at the takeaways from Amazon’s success with this film. The power of the moviegoing experience is on full display right now.”

Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC and Fandango.

Indonesia aims to expand QRIS interoperability across APEC, boosting cross-border digital payments, regional commerce, with rapid adoption domestically and in neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Key Points

• Expansion of QRIS across APEC: Indonesia is pushing its Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) to be interoperable across Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations. The goal is to strengthen cross-border digital payments and regional trade.
• Economic significance: APEC economies account for about 70% of Indonesia’s exports, including major partners like China, Japan, the U.S., and South Korea.
• Domestic adoption: Since its launch in 2019, QRIS has grown rapidly. By mid‑2025, it was used by around 39.3 million merchants and 57 million users, showing strong acceptance in retail and consumer payments.

Indonesia Expands QRIS Interoperability in APEC

Indonesia is advancing its QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) initiative to foster interoperability across Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations. This move aims to bolster cross-border digital payments and enhance regional trade, aligning with Indonesia’s economic ties to APEC economies, which comprise around 70% of its exports, including China, Japan, the U.S., and South Korea.

Key Opportunities for Thai Businesses

• Tourism & Retail: With QRIS already interoperable in Thailand, merchants can seamlessly accept payments from Indonesian visitors. This reduces reliance on cash and foreign card networks, boosting convenience and sales.
• Cross‑border Trade: Thai exporters and SMEs gain easier payment settlement with Indonesian partners, lowering transaction costs and speeding up cash flow.
• Regional Integration: As QRIS expands across APEC, Thai firms positioned early can benefit from smoother transactions with other economies like Malaysia and Singapore, strengthening regional competitiveness.

Rapid Growth of QRIS in Indonesia

Since its launch by Bank Indonesia in 2019, QRIS has become one of Southeast Asia’s leading QR-based payment systems. By mid-2025, it supported roughly 39.3 million merchants and around 57 million users, reflecting its widespread acceptance in the country’s retail sector. The system’s expansion indicates significant adoption of mobile payments across Indonesian businesses and consumers.

Increasing Cross-Border Payment Activity

Transaction volumes mirror the system’s growing popularity, with Bank Indonesia reporting 6.05 billion QRIS transactions valued at IDR 579 trillion (US$37 billion) in the first half of 2025. Early cross-border activity is promising, with Indonesia’s neighboring countries—Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand—recording transactions worth approximately IDR 1.66 trillion (US$105 million), demonstrating regional integration of QR payments.

WHOOP has raised $575 million in fresh funding at a $10.1 billion valuation, as it accelerates its ambition to build a global platform for personalised, preventative healthcare powered by artificial intelligence and biometric data.

The Series G round was led by Collaborative Fund and drew participation from a broad mix of institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and healthcare leaders, including Qatar Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company. Strategic backing also came from Abbott and Mayo Clinic, highlighting growing convergence between technology and traditional healthcare systems.

The round also attracted high-profile individual investors from the worlds of sport and entertainment, including Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Rory McIlroy, reflecting WHOOP’s strong association with elite performance and wellness.

The investment comes at a time when healthcare systems globally are under increasing strain from rising rates of chronic disease and ageing populations. WHOOP is positioning itself at the forefront of a shift from reactive treatment to preventative, data-driven health management.

Founder and chief executive Will Ahmed said the company is building a platform designed to help individuals monitor, understand and improve their health continuously.

“We are creating a personal health system that enables people to improve both their performance and long-term wellbeing,” he said.

At the core of the platform is continuous biometric monitoring, combined with AI models trained on more than 24 billion hours of physiological data. This allows WHOOP to deliver personalised insights into sleep, recovery, stress and physical performance, as well as early indicators of potential health risks.

WHOOP has experienced strong growth in recent years, with more than 2.5 million members globally and bookings rising 103 per cent in 2025 to reach a $1.1 billion run rate. The company also reported positive operating cash flow during the year, underlining its financial momentum.

The new funding will support further expansion across key international markets, including Europe, the Gulf region, Latin America and Asia, as well as continued growth in the United States.

To support this expansion, WHOOP plans to hire more than 600 additional employees globally, focusing on research, development and product innovation.

The involvement of established healthcare organisations such as Abbott signals a broader shift towards integrating consumer technology with clinical expertise.

By combining wearable technology with advanced analytics, WHOOP aims to provide a more holistic view of health, enabling users to make informed decisions about their lifestyle and potentially prevent serious conditions before they develop.

The platform’s high engagement levels, with users opening the app multiple times per day, highlight the growing demand for real-time health insights that go beyond traditional fitness tracking.

While WHOOP initially gained traction among athletes and high-performance individuals, the company is now targeting a broader audience, including executives, professionals and consumers seeking to optimise both health and productivity.

The focus is increasingly on “healthspan”, the length of time individuals remain healthy and active, rather than simply lifespan.

Cristiano Ronaldo, an investor and ambassador, described the platform as a key tool in managing his own health, reflecting its positioning at the intersection of performance and wellbeing.

The latest funding round reinforces WHOOP’s position as one of the most valuable players in the rapidly expanding digital health sector.

As advances in AI and data analytics continue to reshape healthcare, companies that can combine technology, user engagement and clinical relevance are expected to play a central role in the future of the industry.

For WHOOP, the challenge now is to scale its platform globally while maintaining accuracy, trust and regulatory compliance, transforming wearable data into meaningful, actionable health outcomes at scale.

Jamie Young

Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.

When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.