Netflix is putting a lot of capital behind the upcoming thriller The Gray Man, with the streaming giant reportedly spending more money on the production than anything else they’ve made so far. With this in mind, the studio has decided to delay production due to rising cases in California. Sets are currently being built, with the movie initially due to begin production as early as January 18, but, with the change in circumstances, Netflix have decided to push this back two weeks, meaning we will have to wait a little longer before seeing Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans chase and fight each other across the globe.
The Gray Man is a huge production for Netflix, with the budget reportedly set at upwards of $200 million, meaning that the delay will no doubt add substantially to the final bill. Based on the 2009 debut novel by Mark Greaney, The Gray Man is being directed by Avengers: Endgame’s Joe and Anthony Russo, with the filmmaker brothers recently revealing that they are planning for the movie to spawn a franchise featuring Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling. While speaking at the recent CCXP event, Joe Russo explained that The Gray Man will not leave audiences with all the answers, making way for more adventures to come. “What we’re doing on Gray Man that’s different [is]… we’re not gonna answer every question in the first movie,” he said.
“This is being conceived as a series of films, and again, potentially branching out, we could follow other characters, but we’re not gonna answer every question in the movie. So you’re gonna finish the movie, [and] have a complete story, but you’re still gonna have questions about the wider universe. And I think that’s one way to break the model a little bit, is to not give the audience everything in one film. Don’t have a close-ended narrative. Have an open-ended narrative that’s [like] a chapter in a book.”
Clearly the Russo Brothers have big plans for The Gray Man, envisioning both sequels and spin-offs in the franchise’s future. Joe Russo teased how such a big budget is being spent, revealing that the story will take the characters to a variety of different locations all over the world akin to James Bond, and that they plan to press ahead and film on location in all of them, despite the ongoing global situation.
“We have an incredible team and Netflix has been very supportive. [the current situation] hasn’t impacted our location shooting,” he said. “This is a big, global spy thriller. Its intent is, it’s gonna hit a lot of different locations, and we’re still gonna film in those locations. So, we’re excited about that because it’s really important to the storytelling that we visit these different locations.”
The Gray Man follows a former CIA operative turned freelance assassin named Court Gentry, who is also known as the Gray Man. Gosling will star as Gentry, who is hunted across the globe by his former CIA cohort Lloyd Hansen, played by Evans. Knives Out star Ana De Armas was also recently added to the cast. This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.
