MOVIE NEWS – New images from Netflix’s upcoming spy thriller The Gray Man give us our first look at Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Ryan Gosling and Regé-Jean Page.

Netflix has unveiled the first images and release date for its highly anticipated film The Gray Man. A globe-trotting spy thriller, The Gray Man, is one of Netflix’s most expensive films, reportedly with a budget of $200 million, and is set to launch a James Bond-level franchise. The Russo brothers directed the film and stars Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling. The Grey Man will premiere in cinemas on 15 July 2022 and will be available on Netflix on 22 July.

Netflix has also released the first images of The Grey Man, featuring a moustachioed Chris Evans alongside the equally stylish Ryan Gosling. Regé-Jean Page and Ana de Armas are also pictured. You can see the pictures below.

The Russo Brothers’ ‘THE GRAY MAN’, starring Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Dhanush, Jessica Henwick and Rége Jean-Page, will release on July 22 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/lxhaZpXo0J

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 26, 2022

The synopsis of The Gray Man reads, “When Court Gentry (Gosling), the CIA’s most skilled mercenary whose true identity no one knows, inadvertently uncovers dark agency secrets, Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a psychopathic former colleague, puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt for international assassins.”

In an exciting twist, Chris Evans will once again play an antagonist in The Gray Man after his wonderfully devious performance in The Ambush. Joe Russo told Entertainment Weekly that Evans would play a villain after a decade as a standard-bearer for freedom and justice in the MCU.

“It’s hard to find someone on Chris Evans’ level to step into the role of a villain. Traditionally, we don’t get a Ryan Gosling versus Chris Evans movie. But he’s at the point now where [playing a villain] is more fun for him than playing a hero, so we can get two huge movie stars to go head-to-head. They’re very complicated characters with competing agendas, and it’s a fight to the death.”

The directors have previously compared the dynamic between Evans and Gosling’s characters to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s Heat.

Netflix hopes to launch a significant spy thriller franchise with The Gray Man

With Netflix’s dwindling finances, a lot is riding on the success of The Gray Man. The film is said to launch a new franchise for the company that is expected to outdo James Bond. And with an incredibly talented cast and crew, The Gray Man certainly has the potential to do just that.

“We intend to be competitive with any movie, and to be able to do it with Gosling and Evans is a dream for us,” Joe Russo told Deadline in 2020. “The idea is to create a franchise and build a whole universe with Ryan at its centre. We’re all committed to the first movie, and it should be great to get to the second movie.”

The Gray Man is based on Mark Greaney’s hit novel series and adapted by Avengers: Endgame screenwriters Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Joe Russo. In addition to Evans and Gosling, the film also stars several A-list actors, including Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, Wagner Moura, Dhanush and Scott Haze.

The film is coming to cinemas, but there is no word yet on whether it will be released here.

Hopefully, Netflix’s mega-budget venture won’t be as disappointing as some of the streaming provider’s recent films.

Source: Entertainment Weekly