The Russo Brothers are currently developing their next film as a director: a film adaptation for Netflix of Mark Greaney’s 2009 novel, “The Gray Man”. The famed director duo of Avengers follows up 2021’s “Cherry” with this $200 million Netflix original. It is now the most expensive movie to launch on the streaming platform.
The film, which is expected to cost over $1 million, will feature Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Rege Jean Page. It also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Henwick, and Rege-Jean. While the star cast might take up a lot of the budget for Netflix, viewers can still expect to see everything in the next Netflix movie.
The story focuses primarily on an international manhunt among former CIA colleagues Court Gentry and Lloyd Hansen (Evans).
Netflix is experiencing its first loss of subscribers in a decade. It’s interesting that they are spending so much money on a crime drama. Greaney’s Gray Man novel series contains eleven books. This is a precedent for a multi-movie franchise. It could be Netflix’s most daring gamble yet.
If this is true, then the Russo’s could be the most qualified to handle the spy thriller franchise. The Russo’s have extensive experience in managing multiple Captain America/Avengers installments. The brothers even read Greaney’s novel on the set of Captain America the Winter Soldier. The Gray Man was the original plan. However, Marvel Studios invited them back to film The Gray Man. The project was put on hold until 2020 when production began.
Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely are their partners in the adaptation of the first movie. The writer duo is well-known for their involvement in several Marvel Cinematic Universe entries (even those outside of the Russo Brothers’ projects) as well as “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
Many are curious to know what Gray Man author thinks the movie will be. Military.com interviewed the Gray Man author to get his opinions on the McFeely script.
“I was so impressed by the shooting script that [the writers] sent me last year as they began filming. “I’m thrilled that the movie is finally coming to life.”
Greaney’s Gray Man novels have been a #1 New York Times Bestseller. It consists of eleven books with “Sierra Six,” the last, being published in February 2022. With a few exceptions during the period between 2011-2016, Greaney has written one every single year since 2009. This can be attributed to coauthoring several Tom Clancy novels. Greaney stated in an interview that he would be releasing a standalone novel, “Armored”, in the summer of 2022. 2023 will see the publication of The Twelveth Gray Man (working title “Burner”), a novel about the twelve-year-old Gray Man.
