Greig Fraser Is Project Hail Mary’s Secret Weapon — and He Walked Away From Two $1 Billion Franchises

Let’s be honest – if you saw Project Hail Mary in theaters, you probably walked out a little starstruck (pun intended) by the look of it. Yeah, it’s based on Andy Weir’s genuinely fun sci-fi novel, and sure, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s directing is all over it. But let’s talk about the real secret weapon: cinematographer Greig Fraser. If you know your movie tech, the moment cosmic vistas started filling the screen, you knew this was a Fraser operation.

Why Does Project Hail Mary Look So Good?

Fraser’s no stranger to making big movies look absolutely massive (think Dune, Rogue One, The Batman). Here, he goes full tilt: space scenes shot in towering IMAX 1.43:1, Earth scenes in the usual widescreen. So if you caught this in IMAX – and, based on the box office, plenty did – you got a rare blow-your-hair-back experience.

Some stats for the nerds: Project Hail Mary crushed its opening weekend with $80.6 million domestically, and a full fifth of that came from IMAX screens alone. That’s wild. Lord and Miller weren’t shy about shouting out the big presentation, reposting behind-the-scenes shots of those giant projection setups just to rub it in for anyone stuck watching it on an iPad.

Here’s the kicker: Fraser used a process he’s played with before, like on The Batman – shoot digital, transfer to film, then back to digital. It’s the cinematic equivalent of running your audio through a tube amp. Adds texture, makes it feel both modern and vintage, and cranks up that 'you gotta see it in a theater' hype that directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve never shut up about (for good reason).

Breaking Down the Fraser Magic

What does his work actually look like in the movie? Here’s the rundown:

• Earth flashbacks have this warm, almost fuzzy (not in a bad way) nostalgia to them. It immediately locks you into Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace and his foggy memory state.
• Space scenes? Monumental. Huge. The colors that pop up (greens, vivid reds) aren’t just for show—they amplify the feeling of awe and strange danger on Grace’s mission.
• Seriously, watch for these transitional shots: Grace stands outside his ship, gazing out at the planet Adrian. Thanks to a little hack—removing the infrared filter from an Alexa camera—the movie shifts from spooky green-black space to an almost punch-you-in-the-face red glow. That’s the look of the 'Petrova Line,' the hostile-but-gorgeous alien stuff that’s central to the plot. According to Fraser, this was all about, and I quote:
  'Finding beauty in something that’s killing planet Earth.'
• The camera stays intimate too—there are extreme close-ups on Gosling, eyes wide, in the middle of all that spectacle. Adds a human note to the eye candy.
• Fun trick: for a dreamy effect in outer space, Fraser actually layered water between glass panes in front of the lens. The images come out warped, beautiful, kind of like what you’d see in a fever dream.

The Bad News: Fraser Isn’t Coming Back to Dune or The Batman

If you’re hoping for more of this look in future blockbusters, I’m about to burst your bubble: Fraser’s out for Dune: Part Three and The Batman Part II, thanks to (of all things) a four-movie Beatles project with Sam Mendes. So, prioritizing the Fab Four over sandworms and Gotham—an interesting move.

But all’s not lost. Other heavyweights are taking over:

- For Dune: Part Three, Linus Sandgren (La La Land, Wuthering Heights) is on deck, supposedly taking the look in a new direction.
- The Batman sequel gets Erik Messerschmidt, who’s nabbed an Oscar already and brought a slick, old-Hollywood vibe to Fincher’s Mank and The Killer.

Fraser’s Legacy: Raising the Bar for Sci-Fi Visual Storytelling

Here’s the big-picture takeaway: Project Hail Mary is cinematic steroids in the best way. Fraser’s camera work isn’t just technically impressive, it tells its own story—about memory, wonder, and survival, whether he’s dealing with sprawling cosmic vistas or a single, terrified face.

So, while we might not get another epic outer space adventure shot by Greig Fraser for a while, he’s left the genre on a high note—and frankly, raised our expectations for how sci-fi is supposed to look.