The new LEGO Icons set 11389 Project Hail Mary is inspired by the film adaptation of the novel by Andy Weir. It hit shelves on March 1 in support of the movie’s theatrical release on March 20. For audiences, it’s one of the few worthwhile ways to have a piece of the story before its release.
The box comes with everything needed to construct a microscale version of the Hail Mary spacecraft. A functional display stand, a minifigure of Ryland Grace, and a Rocky figure. The stand also has a crank that powers the ship’s controversial centrifugal gravity system, which is one of the biggest points of the set. The model stands at over 12 inches high and 9.5 inches long, with a total of 830 pieces and an 18+ recommended age. It starts at $99.99 USD / £99.99 GBP.
Designer Nathan Heigert said at a recent roundtable that there were no frames for new moulds when construction of Rocky started. This left some members of the fan base disappointed with what the official figure would deliver.
That’s where the community came in.
Since the official Rocky figure is on the smaller side. LEGO designer Jordan DeVries, figured out how to create a bigger version of Rocky using only about half the resources from the Cute Bunny set (31162). DeVries wrote on social media, “Can’t get Project Hail Mary off my brain, so I turned a ~$15 official LEGO set into a Rocky space friend of my very own.” The completed model is 3.7 inches tall with five articulated arms. The instructions are on Rebrickable for just $3.
For those who wish for something even more detailed. The same designer joined the club again with another Rocky reimagining using the I Am Groot (76217) set. Instructions are also again on Rebrickable. In this version, each leg has a lot of articulation points. The final figure stands 4.3 inches tall.
The film itself earned $141m worldwide at the opening weekend, and it’s 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, is a middle-school science teacher on a mission to save humanity, His sidekick, Rocky, quickly became the fan favorite character.
With the official set and the ever-growing library of fan MOCs, there’s no shortage of ways to bring Rocky home. You can grab your Project Hail Mary LEGO set here.
