Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War directors the Russo Brothers are currently in talks to create screen adaptation of Mark Greaney’s 2009 novel, The Gray Man. The film, dubbed the “American version James Bond,” is set to star Ryan Gosling and Avenger’s own Chris Evans.
Joe and Anthony Russo’s production company, AGBO, has already released their 2020 film Extraction (starring Chris Hemsworth) on Netflix and will now create the streaming service’s most expensive film yet, with a budget of $200 million. It’s unknown just how many films we might see from this newly introduced franchise, as the Russo brothers plan on creating “a whole universe.” However, the idea will remain as such until the first film is released.
“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: The 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 film will be a spy-thriller, following Court Gentry (played by Gosling), a freelance assassin and former CIA operative who is hunted by his nemesis Lloyd Hansen (Evans) as he tries to save the lives of his daughters who don’t know he exists.
Although he is mostly known for the Marvel titles he has frequently starred in, such as Captain America (including the highest-grossing film of all time, Avengers: Endgame), Evans has more recently appeared in Rian Johnson’s Oscar-winning Knives Out and the original Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob.
Aside from a small, voice-over role in a TV movie, Gosling was last seen in Damien Chazelle’s 2018 biography, First Man, where he took on the role of iconic astronaut, Neil Armstrong, alongside The Crown’s Claire Foy.
Production for The Gray Man is due to begin in January and you can find all the updates here.
Words by Libby Briggs