Project Hail Mary IMAX Film Strips Resell for Over $100

Project Hail Mary, based on Andy Weir’s bestselling science fiction novel, opened in theaters on March 28th, 2026. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller with Ryan Gosling playing astronaut Ryland Grace, the film had already built serious anticipation among fans of the book and became one of the most talked-about releases of the spring.

IMAX ran a special promotion to mark the film’s opening weekend. On March 29th, select 70mm IMAX theaters gave out collectible film strips to attendees at participating screenings. Quantities were extremely limited, with anecdotal reports suggesting each location received fewer than 500 strips total, and they were gone within the first few showings at most venues.

For anyone who missed the in-theater opportunity, IMAX held a secondary online sale through their store shortly after. Strips were priced at $35 each with a limit of five per order. That sale also sold out fast.

Project Hail Mary IMAX film strips are currently listing and selling on eBay in the $100 range, roughly triple the $35 retail price from the online sale. That puts a full five-strip order at about $500 in gross resale revenue, or around $300 in profit after eBay’s 13% fees.

Attendees who received strips for free at the theater are in an even better position. Factor in the cost of a ticket and concessions and most are still coming out ahead, having essentially been paid to watch a movie.

This is not the first time IMAX and film studios have handed out strips at premium screenings, and it won’t be the last. We’ve covered this category a few times now, and the pattern is consistent: limited distribution plus a genuinely popular film equals real secondary market demand.

The most notable example remains Oppenheimer, where 70mm IMAX strips were selling for around $200 at their peak in 2023, quickly followed by Dune 2’s strips flipping for a comfortable $100. If you’ve been sleeping on collectible film strips, consider this your wake up call.

Going forward, any major IMAX 70mm release with a special event screening is a candidate for this type of promotion, and the strips tend to move quickly on the secondary market when the film has a strong following.

The easy money here has been made. If you got strips at the theater or through the online sale, the current $100 market is a clean flip worth taking. Holding long-term is a bet on the film’s legacy; Oppenheimer held its value partly because of its cultural footprint. Project Hail Mary is beloved by readers of the book, but whether it reaches that level of staying power remains to be seen.

Strips from the online sale are final sale, so anyone sitting on unsold inventory should keep that in mind if demand softens. The current market looks healthy, but these things can move fast in both directions.