Film fans wouldn’t be remiss for assuming that there’s nothing after the end credits of Project Hail Mary, as filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have to date not employed this tactic in any of their feature films. It’s worth noting that 2014’s 22 Jump Street, somehow their last credited work as directors, did have a pretty robust credit sequence, one that showed the “evolution” of the franchise with minor teases, posters, and even clips from the “upcoming sequels” in the series (going all the way to “43 Jump Street” and beyond).
On the flipside, Project Hail Mary is a movie that fully concludes its story as the credits begin to roll, though the potential for something else beyond its narrative certainly exists; it’s not like there’s a major dangling plot thread left open that would require a scene at the end to tie it all up or tease what a sequel would be. That said, for those sitting in the theater right now looking at their phones, or anyone reading this ahead of watching the movie, yes, there is something after the credits of Project Hail Mary, but you shouldn’t expect a full scene or anything like that. Spoilers will follow.
Project Hail Mary Has A Post-Credit Moment for Loyal Fans
Though Project Hail Mary hinges almost entirely on Ryan Gosling’s performance as Dr. Ryland Grace, his most frequent scene partner, the Eridian alien Rocky, is one of the best elements of the film itself. As one might expect, Rocky doesn’t actually speak English, so one of the many scientific problems that Grace and Rocky have to solve is how they communicate. Grace is eventually able to construct a system between two laptops that can translate the musical interludes that Rocky lets out and translate them into English.
Eventually, Project Hail Mary forgoes the tiny musical chants from Rocky in favor of having his English words front and center. By the end of the film, though, after Ryland Grace has been living on Erid for some time and gotten used to communicating with Rocky, the musical speaking returns, with subtitles appearing on screen for those of us who don’t speak Eridian; and this is where the big post-credit surprise comes in.
After the credits have wrapped up and the screen goes black, the surprise comes in the form of a final little song from Rocky. We don’t actually speak Eridian, so it’s unclear what he says at the finale of the film. We can guess it’s “goodbye” or “hope you enjoyed the movie” or “amaze amaze amaze,” but we don’t know for sure. For longtime fans of Andy Weir’s novel, or those who just met Rocky for the first time in the feature film, this final little surprise at the end of Project Hail Mary is a welcome one and worth sitting through the end credits.
