Ryan Gosling Up to Star in The Fall Guy Movie

Ryan Gosling is set to officially sign onto The Fall Guy, an adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name. Gosling’s involvement with the film has been rumored for a while, with reports hitting in April that director David Leitch had backed out of the Netflix/Will Smith collaboration Fast and Loose to direct The Fall Guy for Universal. Still, nothing seems to ever be set in stone when it comes to this property, which has been in development for years. In 2013, WWE Studios supposedly had Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the hook for it, but that fell apart.

Now, Variety is reporting that Gosling is finalizing a deal that will take him to Sydney, Australia, to shoot it. The film centers on a Hollywood stunt performer who has to take a side job as a bounty hunter to make ends meet.

“We are pleased to welcome The Fall Guy down under with $30 million ($21.1 million) in support from our highly successful Location Incentive, with the production to employ over 1,000 Australian cast and crew, and more than 3,015 Australian extras,” Paul Fletcher, Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, said in a statement.

Since the film is about a stunt performer, part of it takes place on movie sets, which provides practical locations for the film and also helps hype Australia’s production facilities in what amounts to a really meta version of product placement.

“After a successful partnership on the studio’s production of Ticket to Paradise in Queensland, Universal is thrilled to return to Australia and base in New South Wales for the highly-anticipated film, ‘The Fall Guy,” said Jeff LaPlante, Universal Pictures’ president, physical production, in a statement of his own.

Gosling was most recently cast in the upcoming film adaptation of Mattel’s long-running toy franchise Barbie. He will star in that film alongside The Suicide Squad‘s Margot Robbie.

There has been no official confirmation, either from Gosling’s people or the studio, that he will be leading the movie. The reports originate in the Australian press who, as noted above, have been saying it for weeks.

The Fall Guy, created by Glen A. Larson (Battlestar Galactica, Magnum P.I., Knight Rider), ran from 1981-1986 and starred Lee Majors in the title role. Originally airing on ABC, the series is widely available for digital sale, but does not appear to be streaming free anywhere at this time.