First Clip From ‘Project Hail Mary’ Released- Massive Practical Spaceship Set was Used as Director Clarifies the ‘No Green Screen’ Claim

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A new clip from the sci-fi film Project Hail Mary is generating buzz about its production techniques. Co-director Chris Miller revealed that while the filmmakers tried to avoid using green screens, the movie still relies heavily on visual effects.

Miller explained on X (formerly Twitter) that the claim of ‘no green screen’ wasn’t meant to imply the film lacked visual effects entirely. He was responding to discussions about how the movie was made.

Miller explained that even though they didn’t use a green screen during filming, the movie still included over two thousand visual effects shots.

Just to be clear, avoiding green screen doesn’t mean the film lacked visual effects (VFX). In fact, there were thousands of VFX shots used! Sometimes, green screen is used as a shortcut instead of properly planning sets or lighting, and if it’s not handled well, it can be obvious to the audience.

— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) March 4, 2026

The creative team preferred building actual sets and using real lighting instead of depending on digital effects like green screens. This meant constructing many of the environments you see in the film, including the main setting – the interior of the spaceship.

We avoided relying heavily on green screen effects, as they can look unrealistic if not done well. Instead, we actually built the inside of the spaceship, the Hail Mary. Even with a physical set, though, we still had to digitally remove things like wires and replace the ceiling in post-production to get the final look.

This movie is adapted from a novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. It follows Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, as he awakens on a spaceship with no recollection of his identity or purpose. He’s completely alone until he encounters Rocky, an alien who is equally stranded and far from his own world.

Miller shared details about filming scenes outside the spaceship. Rather than relying on a standard green screen, the filmmakers used unique backgrounds to achieve more realistic lighting for the actors.

To film Ryan when he was outside on the ship, we used a black backdrop to represent space. When he was positioned in front of the planet’s aurora, we used a changing colored background. This created more realistic lighting on him than a traditional green screen would have.

The first sneak peek at #ProjectHailMary is here! See it exclusively in theaters and IMAX starting March 20th. Tickets are available now – check the link in our bio.

— Project Hail Mary (@projecthailmary) March 6, 2026

While the movie relied heavily on real sets, visual effects were still essential to its completion. Industrial Light & Magic created the expansive space scenes and exterior shots of the spaceship digitally. The alien character, Rocky, was brought to life through a combination of puppetry and animation created by Framestore.

The stunning outdoor scenes and spaceship footage were created entirely using digital effects by ILM. The character Rocky was brought to life with a combination of practical puppetry and animation from Framestore, and many other talented artists contributed to the project. It truly took a team effort, and we were fortunate to work with the very best in the industry.

Miller co-directed the film with Phil Lord. They’ve collaborated before on popular movies like The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, and were also the writers and producers behind the acclaimed animated Spider-Verse films, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and the soon-to-be-released Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

I’m so excited for Project Hail Mary to hit theaters on March 20th! Everything I’ve heard so far has been amazing, and the new clip they released? Wow. It really gives you a feel for how they built the spaceship practically, and it looks visually stunning. I can’t wait to see the whole thing!

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2026-03-06 13:46