Artemis II vs. Hail Mary — Which Would You Rather Board?

Last week the stars aligned in a most quizzical way: April Fool’s Day, incoming full Moon, and a Crayon-shaped rocket ship named Artemis II (with an Orion capsule head) lifted off for ten days, holding four astronauts in a quest to boomerang around the Moon. A first.

Curiously, a suicide-mission, sci-fi film entitled Project Hail Mary had already taken off 11 days before nationwide on movie screens, breaking box office records at the speed of sound — its premise was to save the Earth via middle school science teacher-turned-astronaut Ryan Gosling and a macadam-clad E.T. named “Rocky” from a dying Sun.

The film has also helped resuscitate a dwindling population of ticket-goers hoping for a feel-good escape-hatch picture in the midst of darkening times and popcorn machines.

“Are the scenarios all that different?” Here, a compare and contrast of the sci-fi vs. sci-fact missions that captured our attention last week. Neither missions are yet to be completed.

This story appeared in the April 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.