Our goal for Project Hail Mary was to bring one of sci-fi’s most beloved novels to the big screen in a way that excited longtime fans while making its high-concept story accessible to entirely new audiences. We set out to build an emotional connection with the film’s characters, turning the unlikely friendship between Grace and Rocky into something audiences could fall in love with before ever stepping into a theater.
We started by leaning into the everyman charm of Ryan Gosling’s character, Grace, creating fun, relatable social content that introduced audiences to the film without overwhelming them with its complex sci-fi premise. As the campaign progressed, we introduced his unlikely co-star, Rocky, and quickly made their friendship the heart of our social storytelling. Through custom scripted content with talent, original shoots featuring the Rocky puppet, and reactive community management, we brought their dynamic beyond the film and into the real world, giving audiences new ways to connect with both characters. That approach culminated in one of our biggest activations: a 4-hour TikTok livestream inviting fans to watch Rocky sleep, inspired by the Eridian custom. Musicians, ASMR artists, teachers, and BookTok creators joined in to help soothe Rocky, while fans participated through live chat, prompts, and polls. We took things even further by handing Rocky the reins of the film’s social channels. Through a multi-platform community management takeover, Rocky responded to fan art, answered questions, created his own TikToks, and even reacted live to a scene from the film, blurring the line between the character and the community that had grown to love him.
What began as a campaign for one of the year’s most anticipated book adaptations grew into a fandom centered around one of its most unexpected stars. Rocky became a fan favorite, with audiences embracing the character through fan art, social conversations, and direct interactions across platforms. Our 4-hour TikTok livestream drew over 72,000 fans who interacted through chat, prompts, and polls, showing just how invested audiences had become in a character who speaks an entirely different language. By making the film’s characters accessible, relatable, and part of the online conversation, we helped introduce Project Hail Mary to audiences beyond its existing readership while giving longtime fans new ways to celebrate the story. The film went on to become one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, and Rocky became the internet’s favorite alien.
