Netflix has committed to its most expensive film production to date, but it's got one heck of a creative team behind it. Based on 2009 Mark Greaney novel The Gray Man, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo have signed up to helm with a screenplay written by the former (that was later polished by Marvel Studios regulars Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely).
The duo not only penned the last two Avengers movies, but also Marvel's Captain America trilogy, and they've become frequent collaborators of the Russos in recent years.
The budget is set to be upwards of $200 million, and Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling are attached to star. The movie follows a deadly duel between killers as Gentry (Gosling) is hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort of Gentry’s at the CIA. It's believed that this will serve as a new action franchise on the streaming service similar to Sam Hargrave's Extraction.
"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 tells 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."
Joe adds, "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. 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."
Honestly, it sounds awesome, and is a sign Netflix is serious about becoming a platform not known for repeats of old TV shows, but high quality movies every bit as exciting and star-studded as the content fans will find in theaters.
Production is hopefully going to begin on The Gray Man next January.
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.