Setting a Guinness World Record with Project Hail Mary and IMAX

We’re certainly no strangers to world firsts here at Sent Into Space, with a whole bunch of never-before-attempted feats and award-winning campaigns under our belts. However, one particular accolade – originally created by a certain Irish stout brewer – has proven to be rather elusive over the years.

In order to rectify this, we celebrated the success of Amazon MGM Studios' Project Hail Mary movie with a Highest Altitude IMAX Film Trailer Guinness World Records title attempt!

Silver screen in space

With the mission set, by Sony Pictures Releasing UK, who distributed the film in the UK, the tech team set to work building a strong yet lightweight carbon-fibre spacecraft. Next up was to engineer a space-capable digital display – in IMAX’s signature 1.43:1 Expanded Aspect Ratio, no less – that could comfortably operate in the sub-zero temperatures of space.

Once paired with a duo of outer panels bearing IMAX and Project Hail Mary iconography, the miniature silver screen was primed and ready for its maiden voyage.

Project Hail Mary takes flight

We were definitely fortunate with the weather, with our chosen launch window proving to be a gloriously sunny day.

After a lovely spot of sunbathing at the launch site, we completed our pre-flight checks and sent the craft on its merry way into the far reaches of the upper stratosphere. Here, we remotely activated the IMAX movie screen and aired the Project Hail Mary trailer (along with additional content) against the blackness of space, the curvature of the Earth and the thin blue line of its atmosphere!

The views were breathtaking and proof that a Filmed For IMAX movie really does deserve the biggest view possible.

For the (Guinness World) Record

We won’t keep you in suspense any longer. We’re proud to announce that we’ve been awarded an official Guinness World Records title for the Highest Altitude Film Trailer at an altitude of over 100,000 feet.

The Sent Into Space trophy cabinet is getting rather cramped these days. Many thanks to everyone at Sony Pictures UK for entrusting us with their lofty ambitions, and we hope that sci-fi fans everywhere enjoyed watching the award-winning spaceflight as much as we did engineering it.