Project Hail Mary is the fifth movie directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It’s written by Drew Goddard and based on the Andy Weir novel. It’s the second movie adapted from a Weir novel, and the second adapted by Goddard, after The Martian. It stars Ryan Gosling as a high school science teacher who’s tasked with … going to space basically alone and saving the world. Project Hail Mary is the No. 1 movie in the world. Its opening last weekend was the biggest of the year so far, and its domestic opening was the second-biggest of Gosling’s career (after Barbie) and the second-biggest ever for a non-franchise movie (after Oppenheimer).

And: Saturday Night Live UK is an official international adaptation of regular, old SNL stateside. It, too, premiered last weekend with an episode hosted by (noted non-Brit) Tina Fey. New episodes will appear Sunday nights on Peacock in the U.S. Eight episodes have been ordered, so far.

GUESTS:

• Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Fantasy Filmball podcast
• Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College
• Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University

Music featured (in order):

• Sign of the Times – Harry Styles
• Stargazer – Neil Diamond
• Catch These Fists (Live on SNL UK) – Wet Leg
• See You On The Radio – Grayson Hugh