The Gray Man – Picture: Netflix
After launching The Gray Man, its most expensive and ambitious feature film yet, Netflix and The Russo Brothers are coming back for more with Ryan Gosling back as the elusive Sierra Six in the sequel.
Joe and Anthony Russo will once again direct the movie, while Stephen McFeeley, who co-wrote the original from the Mark Greaney novel with his Avengers scripting partner Christopher Markus, is penning the script.
Joe & Anthony Russo attend the UK Fan Event to celebrate the release of Marvel Studios’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at Picturehouse Central on April 10, 2019 in London, England.
The Gray Man recently debuted as the No. 1 movie on the streamer in 92 countries and got a 91% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Netflix undoubtedly took notice.
The first film took a $200M budget to produce, making it the most expensive and ambitious Netflix feature yet. It notably also saw a limited theatrical release a week before it debuted on Netflix.
The Russos will produce with AGBO’s Mike Larocca and Roth Kirschenbaum Films’ Joe Roth and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum.
Here’s everything else we know about Netflix’s The Gray Man sequel:
What’s the plot of The Gray Man 2?
The Gray Man adapted Mark Greaney’s 2009 spy thriller of the same name albeit there were plenty of changes from the source material.
Netflix sequel to the movie could adapt the second book in the long-running book series that has as many as ten installments as of 2022 and another one set for a release in 2023.
Here’s the synopsis for the second book titled On Target.
Court Gentry, (Gosling) aka the Gray Man, is back – and once again on the run from old friends and foes. Four years ago, Gentry was betrayed by his handlers in the CIA. Now, an old comrade, Russian arms merchant Sidorenko, returns to force him on a mission against his will: kill Sudan’s President Abboud, the supposed trigger for the Darfur genocide. But the CIA has its own plans for Abboud. With his ruthless employers on one side, his blackmailing former friends on the other, and a doomed mission ahead, Gentry would kill just to get out of this one alive.
Naturally, the first movie departed from the source material, and the second won’t be an exception, but we know at least the general direction of the story.
The Russos commented:
“The sequel will be inspired by the Mark Greaney novel. Translating from one medium to another often requires interpretation, but we have an incredible amount of source material from an amazing offer. We’ll draw on that for the sequel.”
The Gray Man 2 Poster – Picture: Netflix
Who is cast in The Gray Man 2?
Cast for The Gray Man – Picture: Netflix
As of July 2022, only Ryan Gosling‘s Sierra Six/Court Gentry is confirmed to be a part of The Gray Man sequel.
Given where the story is at Ana de Armas‘ is almost certainly likely to return as Dani Miranda.
Rege-Jean Page‘s Denny Carmichael character will likely continue to be the target of Sierra Six moving forward.
We could also see Jessica Henwick‘s Suzanne Brewer and Julia Butters‘ Claire Fitzroy back as well.
What’s the production status of The Gray Man 2?
Netflix’s The Gray Man sequel is currently in its early development stage, where writer Stephen McFeeley is penning the scripts as we speak.
Given that the Russos will be filming The Electric State for Netflix until around April 2023, it’s unlikely that filming for The Gray Man 2 won’t begin until next summer.
Filming won’t be expected to begin in 2022 at this rate.
What’s the Netflix release date for The Gray Man 2?
Netflix hasn’t announced any dates for The Gray Man 2, but considering its very early development stage and the scope and scale the production will be on, we can probably expect only a 2024 release date at the earliest.
A Gray Man Spin-off Is Also In Development at Netflix
Announced alongside the sequel is a spin-off movie too. However, not much is known about the spin-off as of the time of publishing.
As per the press release for the expansion of The Gray Man Universe:
“A spin-off film, written by acclaimed screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool, Zombieland) is set to explore a different element of The Gray Man universe. The logline is being kept under wraps.”
The Russos will produce and direct several other major projects for Netflix in the coming years via their AGBO production company.
We’re expecting at least 6 projects, including The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown (set to film later in 2022), Extraction 2, The Bluff, Past Midnight, and The Whisper Man.
The Electric State – Picture: GoodReads
How well is The Gray Man performing on Netflix?
Finally, let’s examine how well The Gray Man is performing and whether it will become Netflix’s most-watched English movie and beat Red Notice.
It’s a little too early to know exactly how well The Gray Man has performed but it is expected to break into the most popular English language films based on hours watched in the first 28 days.
With that said, based on the first 3 days of performance, it may not be able to top either Red Notice or Don’t Look Up.
Graph of performance for The Gray Man on Netflix – Link to graph.
Are you looking forward to the upcoming sequel to The Gray Man? Let us know in the comments.