It’s often sci-fi and fantasy movies that dominate the box office each year, but 2026 can safely be labeled the year of sci-fi both in theaters and with the most popular TV shows. It hasn’t been all perfect for sci-fi this year, especially starting in January with the releases of Mercy (starring Rebecca Ferguson) and Greenland 2: Migration (starring Gerard Butler). Both films bombed at the box office under the weight of expensive budgets, but they later found redemption on streaming platforms such as Prime Video and HBO Max. Prime Video, in particular, has become one of the world’s premiere streaming homes for all the best sci-fi content. The streamer has released a pair of sci-fi TV shows in The Boys and Invincible, but only the latter will be back in 2027 with a new season.
Amazon MGM is also behind the biggest live-action sci-fi movie of the year, Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller. After grossing over $630 million at the box office during a lengthy theatrical run and earning some of the best reviews of any sci-fi movie ever, Project Hail Mary was added to MGM+ a few weeks ago, where it’s become one of the most-watched movies in the world. Amazon finally made the announcement this afternoon that fans around the world have been waiting for, which is that Project Hail Mary will officially begin streaming on Prime Video on July 3, in just 48 hours. The film is expected to be a massive streaming juggernaut immediately upon its debut after smashing expectations on VOD and later on MGM+. Prime Video is the second-biggest streaming service in the world behind Netflix, so a lot of eyes are going to be on the sci-fi thriller starting this Friday.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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Is ‘Project Hail Mary’ Like ‘The Martian’?
Project Hail Mary is often compared to The Martian, because both films are inspired by sci-fi novels written by Andy Weir. While there are plenty of similarities between the two, including the trope of a lost explorer stuck alone in space, there are also plenty of differences. Project Hail Mary is much more of a hard sci-fi film in that it features an actual alien, Rocky. While much of The Martian shows a man living on the surface of Mars, the film is still based more on real science than fiction.
Check out Project Hail Mary on Prime Video starting July 3 and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of all the biggest sci-fi movies of 2026.
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Release Date
March 15, 2026
Runtime
157 minutes
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Director
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
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Writers
Drew Goddard, Andy Weir
Producers
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Aditya Sood, Amy Pascal, Andy Weir, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Rachel O’Connor, Ryan Gosling
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