Ryan & Lord & Miller in Paris

The Project Hail Mary press tour rolls on, with the latest stop in Paris. Ryan Gosling was there with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

They also brought along the Rocky-the-alien puppet.

Project Hail Mary debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a strong 96% “fresh” rating. As I always say, this is not the end-all, be-all of film criticism, and more reviews will be added in the coming days—mine is coming next week—and this rating will undoubtedly change. But it’s got to be at least a little vindicating for directors Lord & Miller, who have not released a feature film since 2014’s 22 Jump Street. Yes, you read that right, it’s been TWELVE YEARS since Lord & Miller have had a feature film in theaters.

Granted, they have written and produced on several projects, including Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, but Lord & Miller were extremely hot commodities in the early 2010s, thanks to the bananas combined success of the Jump Street movies and The LEGO Movie. But then, well, Solo: A Star Wars Story happened. They got removed and replaced in the middle of production. And while they have stayed busy producing—and occasionally directing episodes of TV for shows like The Last Man on Earth and The Afterparty—it seems like Solo derailed them as directors. Whether it was a personal decision not to direct for a while, or if that choice was made for them, I’m not sure.

But they’re back with a big space adventure about a charming, rascally guy saving the world with his alien pal. You see it, right? I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Lord & Miller produced Project Hail Mary, too. They made this project happen for themselves. A big space epic, about friendship and adventure, in space. With humor and pathos, in space. And a huge f-ck off budget just in case anyone thought managing money was the problem. I’m just saying, THIS movie after all THAT time, it looks like Lord & Miller sending a message, and that message is: we’re back, baby, and we were never the problem.