Movies like The Old Guard and Extraction prove that Netflix is all in on the blockbuster game. The streaming service is now doubling down on its efforts in that regard, as it has just committed its biggest budget ever to directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo, who helmed the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame just last year. The Russo Brothers are set to direct The Gray Man for Netflix, a spy thriller starring Ryan Gosling and their longtime front-man, Chris Evans.
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Deadline broke the news on Friday that The Gray Man was in the works at Netflix, with the streaming service committing a budget north of $200 million to the Russos. The film is based on the book by Mark Greaney of the same name. Avengers: Endgame scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely helped polish the script written by Joe Russo.
Gosling stars in the film as freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry, who is hunted around the globe by former ally Lloyd Hansen (Evans). The current expectation is that Gosling will return for sequels after The Gray Man is released. The film is set to begin production in January.
“The movie is a real mano a mano between those two great actors, who represent two different versions of the CIA, in what it can be, and what it can do,” Anthony Russo told Deadline. “For those who were fans of Captain America: Winter Soldier, this is us moving into that territory in more of a real world setting. That’s what this movie really means for us.”
“The intention is for it to be competitive with any theatrical and the ability to do with with Gosling and Evans is a dream for us,” added Joe Russo. “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.”
What do you think of this new Netflix venture? Are you looking forward to seeing The Gray Man whenever it arrives? Let us know in the comments!
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Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios.
