Project Hail Mary's Co-Directors Made One Of Apple TV's Most Underrated Anthology Shows

When Amazon MGM Studios greenlit "Project Hail Mary" with a budget of $200 million, there was a surprising lack of consternation around Hollywood. This was partly due to the understanding that $200 million is pocket change for Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos; if the film tanked, he'd never feel it. But most industry observers also took note of the film's pedigree: The novel by Andy Weir (author of "The Martian") was a bestseller, while the previous four movies directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were all hits, if not blockbusters. With Ryan Gosling attached to star, no one was sweating it.

"Project Hail Mary" has thus far exceeded all expectations. The film blew past box office projections to gross $141 million over its opening weekend. Powered by an "A" Cinemascore, rave reviews, and facing a second weekend devoid of wide-release competition, the film is primed for another major multiplex haul. Just don't expect a sequel.

This is par for the course for Lord and Miller, at least as far as movies they've directed are concerned. They hit the mark with "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "21 Jump Street," "22 Jump Street," and "The LEGO Movie," and while they were fired from "Solo: A Star Wars Story," judging from the finished product (delivered by Ron Howard), getting canned was a blessing in disguise.

Lord and Miller's success rate on television has been impressive as well. They earned a cult following with "Clone High" for MTV, and produced two terrific sitcoms in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "The Last Man on Earth." Their only ratings misfire was the comedic murder mystery "The Afterparty." Fortunately, this raucously funny series is still streaming on Apple TV. If you're a Lord and Miller fan, it's a must-watch.

Created for Apple TV, "The Afterparty" debuted in January 2022 to enthusiastic reviews. Miller is credited as the creator, while Lord joined as a writer/producer. The series concerns the investigation into the murder of pop music superstar Xavier (Dave Franco) during a high school reunion afterparty. Tiffany Haddish plays the detective investigating the misdeed, which finds her questioning suspects played by the uber-talented likes of Sam Richardson, Ilana Glazer, Zoe Chou, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Schwartz, and Jamie Demetriou. It's not a terribly deep show, but the mystery is twisty enough and the ensemble cast is so good together that, really, who needs depth? We just want to laugh and guess whodunnit.

Apple TV renewed "The Afterparty" for a second season, which centered on the murder of a billionaire (Zach Woods) married to Zoe Chou's sister (Poppy Liu). Paul Walter Hauser, Anna Konkle, Elizabeth Perkins, Ken Jeong, and Vivian Wu also join the duplicitous fun, which I thought outdid season 1. Unfortunately, Apple TV wasn't happy with the series' streaming performance and cancelled it.

"The Afterparty" flew under the radar for a lot of people, which means that fans of terrific TV comedies have two seasons of a Lord-Miller concoction to get drunk on. It's unlikely to come back, but, who knows, if the streaming numbers spike, anything is possible! Check out our interviews with Lord and Miller about "The Afterparty" season 1 and season 2 here.