Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” is one of the biggest films of 2026, making $300 million globally in the two weeks following its theatrical release on March 20. It turns out that the man behind the story has a San Diego connection.  The film, which stars Ryan Gosling, follows grade-sch ool science teacher Ryland Grace, who is tasked with saving the planet on his own in a space mission that has no round-trip back to Earth. Along the way, he meets an alien who he finds out has the same goal he does. New York Times best-selling author Andy Weir studied engineering at UC San Diego, but after a while, he has said, he couldn’t afford to attend and was faced with the decision to leave school. “I was there for four years, but then I ran out of money, so I didn’t graduate either,” Weir told NBC 7. “Fortunately, the job market was great for people who are programming computers.… They figured if you were clever enough to open the door, you’re hired.” Later, Weir said, he took a three-year sabbatical to work on his writing, and again encountered hardships. “Wasn’t able to get an editor, wasn’t able to get publishers interested in the book that I did write,” Weir explained.  News about the Artemis mission NASA 4 hours ago ‘Hello, world': Artemis II crew captures new look at Earth on trip to the moon NASA Apr 2 Where is the Artemis II crew now and how long will it take to get to the moon? NASA 18 hours ago Artemis II crew prepares to exit earth's orbit, continue journey to the moon NASA 19 hours ago Artemis II's moonbound toilet is working again to astronauts' relief after overnight fix San Diego Mar 27 Artemis II on 10-day mission with splashdown set near San Diego NASA Mar 31 Timeline: Key moments in the Artemis II mission around the moon NASA Apr 1 NASA's Artemis II mission set to splash down near San Diego coast Weir returned to work as an engineer but continued to write as a hobby.   “I always tell people [that] your passion doesn’t have to be your profession,” Weir said. “It’s nice when they align, but they don’t have to. You can do one job to make money, and you can do the thing you enjoy.” Weir’s first published book was 2011’s “The Martian,” which he originally wrote as a serialized blog and was then picked up by a book publisher. It later became an Oscar-nominated film in 2015, starring Matt Damon. Another work by Weir, “Artemis,” has yet to be adapted into a motion picture. When asked about a potential film based on the story, Weir said, “It may be on the horizon. But, of course, it always comes down to, you know: Is there a studio interested in paying the money to make that happen?” “Artemis,” of course, is name of the NASA space mission which blasted off this week, sending humans to lunar orbit for the first time in more than 50 years. It launched on Wednesday and is expected to splash down just 50 miles off the coast of San Diego 10 days later.  Weir, along with people around the world, tuned in to watch the historic launch.  “The Artemis II launch is sort of the equivalent of Apollo 8,” Weir said. “It’ll be neat to be back on our way. This will be the first time we’ve sent people out of Earth’s orbit since 1972.” “Godspeed, Artemis II,” Weir said when asked what he would tell the four-person crew. “Good luck and God bless.” This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less