The Fall Guy: Universal Confirms First Details of Ryan Gosling Movie With CinemaCon Footage
Universal gave moviegoers a first look at The Fall Guy during CinemaCon 2023, confirming some of the first concrete details of the Ryan Gosling action-thriller from Deadpool 2 director David Leitch, based on The Fall Guy TV series of the 1980s. Leitch (who also co-created the John Wick series) is a longtime veteran stunt performer, and The Fall Guy is being touted as a true celebration of stunt performance – a point that Universal reportedly drove home with a live stunt performance during the CinemaCon panel for the film!
As /Film reports: "The show consisted of performers doing all sorts of cool and dangerous stunts... dropping out of the ceiling, riding around on motorcycles, doing parkour, and handling all sorts of dangerous weapons." One of the stuntmen in the live show was later confirmed to be Ryan Gosling's stunt double for The Fall Guy. After that, a rough cut of footage was shown to the CinemaCon crowd.
The Fall Guy also stars Emily Blunt (The Quiet Place), Winston Duke (Black Panther 2), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso). Blunt joined Ryan Gosling and David Leitch onstage at CinemaCon, and here's the breakdown of all the information about the film that was revealed:
Ryan Gosling's character is Colt Seavers, a retired stuntman – the same as Lee Majors played in '80s TV series. Gosling's Colt Seavers is working as a valet until his ex-girlfriend, a Hollywood director (Blunt) calls him for help locating her missing movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who is a known bad boy party animal.
A sizzle reel reportedly showcased the film's practical action stuntwork, jumping between the locales of the LA desert region and the city at night. Noted highlights are big explosions, slow-motion stunts, Gosling wearing some flamboyant neon suits – and even a stunt where Gosling's character (and stuntman?) is actually set on fire.
If the sound of all that is giving you slight echoes of Gosling's 2011 cult-hit film Drive, you're not alone. However, Nicolas Winding Refn's dark arthouse anti-hero story was a far cry away from the stunt action clinic that Leitch seems to be putting together for The Fall Guy. After what his buddy and collaborator Chd Stahelski just achieved with John Wick: Chapter 4, it's understandable that Leitch would feel slightly competitive about pushing the bar of stunt action even higher with The Fall Guy.
The Fall Guy has a release date of March 1, 2024.