If you haven't watched Project Hail Mary yet, you should. Try to watch it on the largest screen possible. It's beautiful, heart-warming and fun for any audience. I've been obsessed with it since I listened to the Audiobook with Ray Porter, and the cinematic version doesn't disappoint.
Movies like this help inspire people to be scientists and explorers, and to look for the good in people. It shows that no matter who you are, you can change the world.
That's my mini review, but not the real reason for this article. Project Hail Mary has done something that makes me, a 3D-printing maker, happy, happy, happy. If you visit the Project Hail Mary website and look in the bottom-right corner, you can download a 3D model of a stylized spaceman used in the movie.
I'll try not to spoil anything, but the little spaceman is given to the main character, Ryland Grace, to help him visualize the ideas that his companion is trying to portray. It's a beautiful little model, and not the first time a company has done something like this to promote a movie.
Many years ago, Paramount released a 3D model from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This year, Markiplier created a haunted 3D-printed popcorn bucket that you could actually take to the theater and get a free popcorn order. It was gross and cool at the same time, but unique enough that a lot of people enjoyed making it.
My hope is that more movie studios will realize how well these files are received by the maker community and keep giving us more. A lot of the models VFX designers create can be converted into 3D-printable models with ease, and in the case of Project Hail Mary, this file was almost certainly a 3D-printed prop anyway. They have the file, so why not share it with the world?
While we didn't have any Xenonite around to 3D print with, we did have some lovely silver silk PLA to make this fancy little spaceman. Printing it on the fantastic Bambu Lab H2D was a breeze with some supports as needed. The pattern of the model makes it look so surreal and gives it an alien quality that really makes it stand out. Print time was around four hours using PLA.
My next project after this is to print the same model in Iron filament from Protpasta and let it rust to really make it feel otherworldly.
Project Hail Mary is something of a cultural phenomenon right now, and rightfully so. Adding the ability to 3D models directly from the studio has added a little more advertising from a group of people who are very likely to love a deep sci-fi movie and share what they've made with the world. Let's hope more movie studios see how successful this is and jump on the idea, too.