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Promotional stunt took a Lego set inspired by the movie with Ryan Gosling to the stratosphere, with altitude recording, ground recovery, and official recognition by Guinness World Records.
A Lego set inspired by Project Hail Mary, a movie starring Ryan Gosling, was taken to the stratosphere by a high-altitude balloon, returned safely to Earth, and had the feat recognized by Guinness World Records.
The recorded mark was 34,988 meters in altitude, in the category of highest altitude launch and recovery of a Lego set.
Lego set breaks altitude record
The flight occurred on March 20, over Gwynedd county, in the United Kingdom.
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According to Guinness World Records, the structure carried a miniature of Ryland Grace, Gosling’s character, as well as a representation of the Hail Mary ship and the alien Rocky.
The operation lasted more than eight hours and ended with the recovery of the set on the ground.
This stage was necessary to validate the record, as the category recognized by the entity considers both the altitude reached and the return of the launched material.
The action was organized by Sent Into Space, a company specializing in high-altitude launches, in partnership with the Lego Group and the team linked to the promotion of Project Hail Mary.
The campaign also featured participation from Sony Pictures Releasing UK, the film’s distributor in the United Kingdom, according to the record published by Guinness.
Flight reached the stratosphere
Despite part of the promotion using references to space, the launch occurred in the stratosphere.
The altitude reached was below the Kármán line, located 100 kilometers from the Earth’s surface and frequently used as a reference for the boundary of space.
The set, however, still reached a region far above commercial aviation routes.
In the record released by Guinness, images show the model attached to a platform during the flight, with Earth in the background and cameras tracking the ascent and descent.
Official certification was delivered on April 13, in Las Vegas, United States, to directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
They are directing the feature film, which adapts the novel Project Hail Mary, published in 2021 by writer Andy Weir, for the cinema.
Movie Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling
In the film, Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there.
As he regains his memories, the character discovers that his mission involves a problem related to the Sun and the survival of Earth.
The plot also includes Rocky, an alien character who becomes part of the protagonist’s journey.
In the action recognized by Guinness, the alien figure was part of the set carried by the balloon, alongside the miniature of Grace and the ship inspired by the film.
To keep the set stable during the flight, specialists from Sent Into Space fixed the model on its own base, coupled to a balloon-powered platform.
Monitoring was done with onboard cameras and a GPS tracking system, according to the entity responsible for the record.
How the record was validated
Sent Into Space project manager Chris Rose told Guinness that the company was proud of the partnership with Sony Pictures Releasing UK and its participation in the new world record.
He also said that incorporating a Lego build into the platform’s development made the operation different from other team projects.
The statement was presented by the organization as part of the official material about the record.
In the same vein, Rose linked the initiative to the interest of bringing science, engineering, and space exploration closer to the public, especially young people interested in these fields.
The record was treated as part of the promotional campaign for Devoradores de Estrelas, but followed formal Guinness World Records criteria.
Validation required launch documentation, altitude measurement, and proof of the set’s recovery after returning to the surface.
The relationship between the promotional material and the film’s story is evident in the object chosen for the mission itself.
Instead of a generic piece, the launch used the Lego Icons: Project Hail Mary set, with elements associated with the characters and the spaceship from the film adaptation.
Another record linked to the film
Guinness also reported that this was not the only recent record related to the film.
The production and Sent Into Space had already obtained another title, referring to the movie trailer displayed at the highest altitude on a custom IMAX screen, at 31,058 meters.
In Brazil, Project Hail Mary received the title Devoradores de Estrelas.
The adaptation features a screenplay by Drew Goddard and direction by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with Ryan Gosling in the lead role.
The original work was written by Andy Weir, an author also known for The Martian.
As in the book, the cinematic version follows a survival mission linked to a threat to the planet, focusing on the character Ryland Grace and the discoveries made during the space journey.
Campaign used high-altitude balloon
The choice of a high-altitude balloon allowed the set to reach the stratosphere without the use of rockets.
This type of launch is used in experiments, image recording, and commercial actions that seek to reach high altitudes with relatively light equipment.
The case gained repercussion for bringing together a toy franchise, a science fiction production, and a formal record validation.
Still, the central information recorded by the entity is objective: the set reached 34,988 meters, returned to Earth, and was added to the Guinness World Records database.
The distinction between stratosphere and space helps to accurately dimension the achievement.
The model did not perform a space mission, but it reached an unusual altitude for a promotional object and returned in recoverable condition, which supported the certification in the specific category.
The disclosure of the record also shows how cinema campaigns have resorted to measurable actions to increase the circulation of their releases.
In this case, the promotional piece was subjected to a documented technical operation recognized by an international entity, without altering the commercial nature of the initiative.
For the audience following the film, the action connects characters, spaceship, and the story’s premise to a real high-altitude experiment.
For those observing the record from a technical aspect, the main data remains in the combination of altitude, monitoring, and recovery of the set.
II was looking for when it got launched, but I guess it does not say here.