While the dataset isn’t large enough to be truly scientific, we think it’s safe to say that any time a novel by Andy Weir has been adapted for the big screen — especially when the screenplay has been penned by Drew Goddard — it should be considered appointment viewing.

Goddard wrote the script for 2015’s “The Martian,” a wonderful slice of science-forward fiction based on Weir’s novel of the same name that starred Matt Damon and was helmed by Ridley Scott.

Now comes the endlessly entertaining “Project Hail Mary,” based on Weir’s 2021 bestselling novel of the same name and with actor Ryan Gosling in front of the camera and the directing tandem of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller behind it.

In “The Martian,” Damon portrays an astronaut who must learn to survive alone on Mars for an extended period of time. The tale woven in “Project Hail Mary” is even more fantastical: A brilliant teacher ventures light-years from Earth in an attempt to save its dying sun and finds an otherworldly ally in the endeavor among the stars.

We meet Gosling’s Dr. Ryland Grace, a onetime molecular biologist with a controversial opinion, aboard the ship, the middle school instructor awakening from a medically induced coma for the journey deep into space, finding that the other two members of the crew have died. He doesn’t remember much — he even wonders aloud whether he’s smart, a prospect that excites him, upon identifying a piece of high-tech equipment — and is not thrilled with the situation.

We then get the first of the film’s myriad flashback sequences, which fill us in on how Grace was chosen for this mission and why it was needed. As for the latter, a mysterious microscopic element is causing the sun to dim, which, experts believe, would result in a planet-wide crisis in a relatively brief time.

Because of a controversial theory Grace had expressed to the scientific community years earlier, he is tagged by the powerful Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), who’s running an international project — Hail Mary — that aims to fix this gargantuan problem. When Grace makes meaningful progress experimenting on these “space dots,” he’s brought much more deeply into the fold.

Not long after he begins his work in space, he encounters an alien ship, being piloted, it would seem, by someone — or something — highly interested in making his acquaintance.

Soon, “Rocky” enters the picture.

Voiced and controlled in part by puppeteer and performer James Ortiz, the faceless, multi-limbed and rock-like creature is, like Grace, a genius far from home and working on the same problem, as the substance is wreaking havoc in his planet’s system, too.

One of the handful of plot developments you have to just go with as you enjoy “Project Hail Mary” is the relative ease with which Grace learns to communicate with his new friend, who quickly builds a system that allows him to come aboard Grace’s ship without dying from the unfriendly air.

By the time the film turns into this unusual buddy adventure, it is an absolute joy, the pair putting their big brains to the task at hand and playfully ribbing each other as they go.

As evidenced by “The Martian,” Weir has a gift for dramatizing problem-solving, and Grace and Rocky take on hurdle after hurdle as they near a high-stakes and very dangerous operation they believe can lead to the salvation of both of their worlds.

Impressively — and the production is very proud of this — no green-screen technology was used during the shoot, so no doubt Lord, Miller and various collaborators did their fair share of problem-solving, as well.

Gosling (“La La Land,” “Barbie”) is the ideal choice for Grace; the charismatic actor’s gift for comedy is a big reason why “Project Hail Mary” is the rare two-and-a-half-hour film that zips by like a rocket ship. (Weir apparently thought so, too, as, according to the film’s production notes, he years ago sent an unfinished manuscript of “Project Hail Mary” to Gosling in the hopes he’d not only star in it but also serve as a producer, which he’s done.)

The directors — often referred to as the entity Lord Miller — also have a background steeped in laughs, with flicks including “The Lego Movie” and the “21 Jump Street” romps to their credit, and it serves them well here. They cook up laugh after laugh from the interactions between Grace and Rocky, the language barrier that remains leading to the latter using phrases such as “fist my bump,” not “fist bump,” further endearing him to the former.

Ultimately, “Project Hail Mary” is about Grace learning to be brave, a thematic through line explored during flashback scenes with the talented Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Zone of Interest”). She makes an impact on the film, as does Lionel Boyce (“The Bear”), as Carl, a security guard charged with overseeing Grace early in the film and becoming his first comedic partner.

And let’s not forget about Goddard, the writer and director of “The Cabin in the Woods” and “Bad Times at the El Royale.” Whatever calculations he made in taking the story from book to script, they were sound. If Lord Miller makes good on their talk of also bringing to the screen Weir’s 2017 novel, “Artemis,” he should be part of the mix.

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‘PROJECT HAIL MARY’

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some thematic material and suggestive references)

Running time: 2:36

How to watch: In theaters March 20

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