"Project Hail Mary," starring Ryan Gosling as a scientist named Ryland Grace who befriends an alien in space, is already powering up the box office.

Ryan Gosling's "Project Hail Mary" costar is a high-maintenance creature with his own "glam squad." The actor introduces us to Rocky, a lovable alien.

Problems of the natural world can be addressed through, and only through, mastery and cooperation might seem like a truism, but in Weir's stories, it emerges as an expansively hopeful thesis.

Nevertheless, so began a period of trial and error as those responsible for bringing Rocky to life — concept artists, the visual effects team, and a group of puppeteers from Creature Shop, among others — worked towards coming up with a final look that most would be happy with.

When Ryan Gosling interacts on screen with his alien buddy, which he does for more than half of “Project Hail Mary,” he wasn’t staring at a green screen as cameras rolled. Instead, he was playing off of an elaborate puppet manned by James Ortiz,

Movies like "Disclosure Day" and "Project Hail Mary" renew our fascination with extraterrestrials and the idea that humankind is not alone in the universe.