‘The Gray Man’ is one of Netflix’s most highly-anticipated upcoming films. From the cast to the plot to the film’s major Netflix deal, here’s everything you need to know about the movie.
The Gray Man is one of the movies you can look forward to seeing on Netflix in the future. The action-thriller is based on the 2009 Mark Greaney novel of the same name, which has expanded into a bestselling book series. The movie centers around The Gray Man, a former CIA operative and a freelance assassin whose real name is Court Gentry. The Gray Man will be a “deadly duel between killers as Gentry is hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen, a former cohort of Gentry’s at the CIA,” according to Deadline.
The film is going to be epic in scale, with a reported budget of a whopping $200 million. The Gray Man has been a long-gestating project in Hollywood. The film was in the works with Brad Pitt set to star in 2015, but the project never came to be. The Gray Man is now officially underway with new directors, cast, writers, and more. The film will be released via Netflix. Here’s everything we know so far about this star-studded film that’s expected to be the next big thing in Hollywood.
‘The Gray Man’ Cast: New & Familiar Faces
Ana de Armas will star alongside Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling. (Shutterstock)
Ryan Gosling is set to star as Court Gentry, with Chris Evans starring as Lloyd Hansen. Gosling versus Evans? Yes, please! Their casting was announced in July 2020. Over the latter months of 2020 and into 2021, more incredible stars have been added to the cast. Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, Dhanush, and Julia Butters joined the cast in December 2020. The Gray Man will be a reunion for Chris and Ana, who both starred in the hit 2019 film Knives Out. The Gray Man will be the next high-profile budget for Julia, the breakout star of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
‘Bridgerton’ breakout Regé-Jean Page will have a role in ‘The Gray Man.’ (Shutterstock)
Coming off his star-making turn in Netflix’s Bridgerton as the Duke of Hastings, Regé-Jean Page joined the cast in March 2021. Regé-Jean will be pulling double-duty with Netflix as Bridgerton season 2 begins production in the spring of 2021. Billy Bob Thornton and Alfre Woodard are among the latest stars to join The Gray Man.
‘The Gray Man’ Behind-The-Scenes
The Gray Man will be directed by the ultimate power duo in directing: Joe and Anthony Russo. The brothers notably directed a slew of Marvel movies, including the 2019 epic Avengers: Endgame. The film is being produced by the Russo brothers’ company, AGBO. Joe will be writing the screenplay, along with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Christopher and Stephen previously worked with the Russos on Captain America and Avengers films. They are also Co-Presidents of Story at AGBO.
Joe and Anthony Russo will be directing ‘The Gray Man. (Shutterstock)
The Gray Man will be the fifth collaboration between the Russo brothers and Chris Evans. Joe and Anthony Russo previously directed Chris in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Back in December 2020, The Gray Man’s production start was delayed due to the rising COVID-19 cases in California, Deadline reported. The movie was originally slated to start shooting in mid-January 2021, but it was delayed at least two weeks. At the beginning of March 2021, it was revealed that filming was set to start in two weeks. Netflix has not announced a release date for the film.
The Big Netflix Deal
With a budget of $200 million, The Gray Man is the most expensive Netflix film yet. That’s a big undertaking, but Joe and Anthony Russo have proven they’re more than capable of creating a blockbuster film. Avengers: Endgame remains the highest-grossing movie of all-time with box office earnings at over $2.7 billion. The Netflix film Extraction, which starred Chris Hemsworth and was produced by AGBO, became the most-watched Netflix original movie when Netflix announced its top 10 original movie list in 2020. When it comes to blockbusters, the Russo brothers know what they’re doing.
Joe explained in an interview with Deadline that the hope is that The Gray Man becomes a successful Netflix franchise, with Ryan Gosling expected to return. There are currently 10 books in The Gray Man franchise, with Relentless having been released in February 2021. “The intention is for it to be competitive with any theatrical, and the ability to do with Gosling and Evans is a dream for us,” Joe said. “The idea is to create a franchise and build out a whole universe, with Ryan at the center of it. We have all committed to the first movie, and that’s got to be great to get us to the second movie. These are master assassins, and Gosling’s characters gets burned by the CIA and Evans’ character has to hunt him down. We have a great working relationship with Netflix, and we go back almost 20 years with Scott Stuber. We formed AGBO to be an agnostic storytelling company, where we figure out the best platform. We think Netflix is the perfect place for this film.” In many cases, Netflix also does a limited theatrical release for its original films, but it hasn’t been confirmed whether or not The Gray Man will have any type of theatrical release or not.
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
