2024 is going to be an interesting year, for sure, and we have a big push from Universal Pictures adding to their modern wave of films connected to the Universal Monsters franchise. One of the upcoming projections is a new “Wolf Man” movie from Aussie filmmaker Leigh Whannell (“The Invisible Man,” “Upgrade”) with Blumhouse producing, and seems to be more of a modern take on the werewolf story, separating itself from the 2010 film that starred Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro. Filming is expected to begin soon because the studio has already given the new project a release date in October, suggesting a quick turnaround in the post-production process.
With that in mind, we have a new casting update for “Wolf Man.” The usual trade outlets including Deadline are all reporting that “Ozark” breakout Julia Garner has been tapped to play the female lead in the horror pic opposite Christopher Abbott (“Poor Things”), who had recently replaced Ryan Gosling (“The Fall Guy”).
The report says Garner will play “a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.” This part seemingly echoes her recent Aussie thriller “The Royal Hotel” which was distributed by NEON last year.
“Wolf Man” is set to be released on October 25, 2024.
Another modern remake of “The Wolf Man” had been in development at Blumhouse/Universal after the studio’s plans for a cinematic universe centered on their iconic Universal Monsters had been in the works but there is a bit of shakeup on the project. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that both director Derek Cianfrance (“A Place Beyond The Pines”) and Ryan Gosling have exited “Wolf Man,” with replacements already found.
Actor Christopher Abbott (“Poor Things”) has been tapped to take over the lead role from Gosling and Aussie filmmaker Leigh Whannell (“Upgrade”) is back on the film after Cianfrance had been hired to take on directing duties. Whannell was behind Universal’s “Invisible Man,” a modern take on the H.G. Wells character with a domestic abuse spin that had a solid reception from both audiences and critics leading to the studio to assign the director for a remake of “The Wolf Man” next.
The script was penned by both Whannell and Corbett Tuck.
Abbott is no stranger to genre projects with a string of credits that include Brandon Cronenberg’s cyberpunk thriller “Possessor,” “Catch-22,” and most recently can be seen in the Frankenstein-inspired satire “Poor Things.”
Of course, the movie would focus on a man who is cursed with transforming into the Wolf Man during a full moon with deadly results. Oscar-winner Benedict Del Toro starred in the last incarnation helmed by Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) which was released back in 2010 and used a mix of Rick Baker’s excellent practical makeup alongside wonky digital effects. “Wolf Man” already has a release date set for October 25, 2024, which means production is about to start soon.
Ryan Gosling stars in the massive Netflix film The Gray Man, which sees him work alongside Marvel Studios alumni such as the directing team The Russo Brothers, and Captain America actor Chris Evans. This had led many to consider that he might eventually join the MCU in a heroic role.
While there had been rumblings about Gosling being courted to play Nova in a yet-to-be-confirmed project at Marvel, during a tease for a new interview with MTV News the Canadian actor said that is “untrue.”
However, added he would be keen to play one superhero, Ghost Rider.
“Ryan and I chatted about the Nova rumors yesterday which he said aren’t true. But this morning Ryan reached out to me to say there is one superhero he wants to play…Ghost Rider.”
A horror-centric hero that was previously played by Nicolas Cage in two feature films before a television incarnation that appeared on Agents of SHIELD before a spinoff series at Hulu was snuffed out.
It’s unclear if Gosling has met with Marvel for anything recently but given the fan demand to see him join the MCU and the return of Ghost Rider, we shouldn’t be surprised if the studio at least speaks to him at some point. You might remember that before Mahershala Ali was announced as the new Blade, the Oscar-winning actor was the one who brought up playing the vampire hunter in a reboot to Marvel in a meeting and seemed to convince them.
Speaking of Blade, Marvel entering their era of exploring horror characters means that the return of Ghost Rider is only a matter of time.
Next week my full chat w/Ryan Gosling for @MTVNews But for now, an honest to goodness EXCLUSIVE.
Ryan and I chatted about the Nova rumors yesterday which he said aren’t true. BUT this morning Ryan reached out to me to say there is one superhero he wants to play…GHOST RIDER pic.twitter.com/1jnC5ht4UY
Netflix and The Russo Brothers are teaming to bring the streaming service’s most expensive original film with a feature adaptation of The Gray Man, a spy thriller that is said to have a budget of over $200 million.
To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…
The impressive cast consists of Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys, Drive, Blade Runner 2049), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, Captain America 1-3, Avengers 1-4), Ana De Armas (No Time To Die, Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out), Wagner Moura (Narcos), Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, Dungeons & Dragons), Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo), Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage), Julia Butters (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Eme Ikwuakor (Inhumans, Moonfall) and Scott Haze (Venom, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minari).
The sibling filmmakers have announced over the weekend that they have wrapped on the film.
It’s been said that Netflix hopes The Gray Man will be the first of multiple installments as they see it has potential to become their own Mission: Impossible or James Bond franchise. However, we’ll have to see if spending all that money was worth it as many of the original films from Netflix make for flashy trailers but never really live up to the hype and tend to lack the quality of studio blockbusters.
Netflix brass recently told Deadline they have zero plans to make a follow-up to Michael Bay’s 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds, something I’m sure they believed would become a massive success for them too.
They’re likely crossing their fingers that Red Notice starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds (another pricey action film) will also become a franchise player for them as well.
It’s exciting that Marvel Studios has regained the film rights to Fantastic Four and Silver Silver, allowing them to finally use some of their most iconic and well-known characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe either in films or series airing on Disney+. Norrin Radd aka The Silver Surfer, the herald of Galactus, was co-created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. The Marvel Comics character first appeared in the pages of Fantastic Four in 1966. Arguably one of the more popular cosmic characters that had been introduced from that era of comics and appeared in a handful of animated projects.
20th Century Fox attempted to develop a solo film in the 1990s and hired a large group of writers to tackle the script with various drafts. Those screenwriters working over the years included John Turman (Hulk, Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer), Richard Jefferies (TRON: Legacy, Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer), John Rice (Windtalkers, Blown Away), Rudy Gains (The Calling), Mike Finch (American Assassin, Predators, John Wick: Chapter 4, Hitman: Agent 47), John M. Bergmann, Bernd Eichinger (Downfall, Perfume: The Story of A Murderer, The Baader Meinhof Complex), and Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en, The Wolfman, 8mm).
One of the big standouts was James Gunn (The Suicide Squad, Guardians of The Galaxy 1-3, Slither, Dawn of The Dead, Super), as the filmmaker revealed on Facebook that he was approached by the studio in 1999 to write an “extensive treatment” for Silver Surfer.
GUNN: “When I first moved to LA in 1999, one of the first people I met on a meeting was an exec at Fox. He told me they wanted to make a Silver Surfer movie, and I might be right for that, so I wrote an extensive treatment. It was a huge story, cosmic as hell, and featured the Silver Surfer turning on Galactus (but no Fantastic Four – this was before the first FF film).”
Eventually, 20th Century Fox got their Silver Surfer project with Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer in 2007 with Doug Jones (Hellboy 1-2, The Shape of Water) playing the body and Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter 2, The Matrix Trilogy, Ant-Man & The Wasp) becoming Norrin Radd’s voice.
There had been plans of giving Silver Surfer a spinoff after the Fantastic Four sequel and they hired writer J. Michael Straczynski to tackle it in 2007. The seasoned screenwriter’s credits include Babylon 5, Thor, Sense8, Underworld: Awakening, Ninja Assassin, World War Z, Changeling, The Real Ghostbusters, Captain Power, He-Man & The Masters of The Universe, and She-Ra: Princess of Power.
Two years later, Straczynski mentioned in an interview that the sequel not meeting the studio’s expectations led Fox to question making a direct spinoff.
STRACZYNSKI: “What happened was when FF2 didn’t do as well as they hoped it would do, it caused them to call into question a Silver Surfer movie. The script that I wrote picked up right where FF2 left off. So if they do a Silver Surfer film down the road, it’ll have to be its own separate [thing].”
Director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) debunked a rumor he was going to direct the movie while speaking at San Diego Comic-Con 2008 via Slash Film.
PROYAS: “Unfortunately that is just a rumor. I don’t know where that came from. I do like Silver Surfer, but I’m not going to be doing it.”
In 2018, it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that comic book and television writer Brian K. Vaughn (The Great Machine, Y: The Last Man, Saga, Lost, M.A.S.K.) was developing a solo Silver Surfer movie before the merger with Disney in 2019 seemingly nixed those plans alongside a bulk of Marvel projects that Fox was developing at the time.
Marvel Studios now has control of the character and announced a new Fantastic Four movie in December that will be directed by Jon Watts, who helmed their Spider-Man trilogy.
Filmmaker Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short, Ant-Man) stated he was interested in a Silver Surfer movie while speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. In the chat, he cited The Wachowskis’ stylized Speed Racer movie as inspiration.
MCKAY: “Silver Surfer man, that’s the one I want to do. I would do anything to do Silver Surfer because visually….could do what the Wachowskis did with Speed Racer, with the Silver Surfer. At the same time, there’s a great emotional story in there man. Where a guy has to choose to save his planet. You know Norrin Radd has to save his planet…that, that would be the one.I think they’re kicking around a Nova idea.”
While speaking with MTV at the 2019 Gloden Globes, Adam suggested there was some “discussion” and Marvel’s Kevin Feige at the same event seemed open to the idea of meeting with him about the project.
MCKAY: “(Laughs) There actually has been some discussion about Silver Surfer. My agent certainly woke up. They were excited. We’re in the middle of, you know, backing Vice right now, but, who knows, in a couple of months it could pop up. I really am excited by that idea. So, we’ll see what happens.”
FEIGE: “I’ve not gotten a call yet, but I’ve seen Adam tonight and at a number of these awards, he is as everyone knows an incredibly smart guy he’s an honest to goodness fan and you know did a lot of behind the scenes work on the first Ant-Man film and have you seen Vice? A little cameo, a little Galatcus cameo in there that we helped him get. So I look forward to speaking to him more.”
We still don’t know if Norinn Radd will be part of Marvel’s new Fantastic Four franchise (expected) or if Adam McKay will get to make his solo film as Marvel Studios hasn’t officially announced any plans concerning Silver Surfer. However, there are plenty of casting ideas making the rounds online and figured I’d mention the people I think would be a good fit in the role that would likely be a mix of live-action and motion-capture.
LAKEITH STANFIELD (AGE 29): Get Out, Uncut Gems, Judas & The Black Messiah, Knives Out, Atlanta, The Girl In The Spider’s Web, War Machine, Dope, Short Term 12, and Straight Outta Compton.
RYAN GOSLING (AGE 40): The Nice Guys, Blade Runner 2049, Drive, Only God Forgives, Half Nelson, Remember The Titans, The Place Beyond The Pines, First Man, La La Land, and The Gray Man.
BRAD PITT (AGE 57): Fight Club, Snatch, Killing Them Softly, Inglourious Basterds, Se7en, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Moneyball, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Troy, Ocean’s Eleven, The Big Short, Interview With A Vampire, Fury, Legends of The Fall, True Romance, The Devil’s Own, and Bullet Train.
The Russo Brothers are busy shooting their massive Netflix spy film The Gray Man in California and they’ve enlisted two more Marvel alumni to their cast.
The siblings have hired Eme Ikwuakor (Inhumans, Moonfall) and Scott Haze (Venom, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minari) to take roles in the epic action-thriller that is budgeted at over $200 million, making it the most expensive Netflix original movie to date. The casting news comes from Deadline but who they’ll be playing isn’t mentioned in the report.
To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…
The rest of the cast consists of Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans Ana De Armas, Wagner Moura, Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Rege-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, and Julia Butters.
Netflix’s most expensive original film has officially started production according to a Twitter post made by The Gray Man’s directors, The Russo Brothers. The film’s budget is said to be well over $200 million dollars and is expected to be a large-scale spy film, given the money involved we’re assuming there should be some over-the-top action sequences.
Production was reportedly taking place in Long Beach, California and it will reunite them with Captain America/Avengers star Chris Evans.
To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…
It’s cast includes Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans Ana De Armas, Wagner Moura, Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Rege-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, and Julia Butters.
Their post confirms the cinematographer will be Stephen F. Windon, the director of photography for The Fast & The Furious films going back to Tokyo Drift. Stephen also worked on Star Trek Beyond, Sonic The Hedgehog, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
A new report from Deadline is suggest that the California production start on Netflix’s $200+ million budgeted spy flick The Gray Man from Avengers: Endgame directors The Russo Brothers might be seeing a production delay pushing the film’s start into early February or late January from it’s original planned start in mid-January due to positive COVID-19 tests. Netflix is hoping the expensive project could become a franchise on the level of James Bond.
The script was penned by the Russos with help from Marvel Studios alumni Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry. The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.
It’s impressive cast already consists of Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys, Drive, Blade Runner 2049), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, Avengers franchise, Captain America franchise), Ana de Armas (No Time To Die, Knives Out, Blade Runner 2049), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix 4, Godzilla vs Kong, Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Wagner Moura (Narcos, Elysium), Dhanush, and young actress Julia Butters (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood).
The Ronin has also learned that 2nd unit director and veteran stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos is expected to join the spy movie’s production team. Razatos’ extensive credits include The Expendables, Fast Five, X-Men: First Class, Fast & Furious 6, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Furious 7, Captain America: Civil War, Kong: Skull Island, The Fate of The Furious, Venom, 21 Bridges, Bad Boys For Life, and F9.
The Russo Brothers are busy bees as they’ve wrapped on their Tom Holland (Spider-Man 3) crime drama Cherry and are already lining up their next film The Electric State for Universal Pictures starring Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Godzilla vs Kong). They’ve also been developing a live-action feature film based on the anime series Battle of The Planets and have considered returning to Marvel Studios to direct an event film such as Secret Wars.
A release date for The Gray Man has yet to be set by Netflix.
Hot off making The Matrix 4 in Germany, actress Jessica Henwick has landed a role in The Gray Man, a massive $200+ million budgeted spy action film directed by The Russo Brothers for Netflix.
The news coming from Deadline, who also mention that Wagner Moura (Narcos, Elysium), Dhanush, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood breakout Julia Butters will be joining the cast as well. The high-profile project already has actors such as Ryan Gosling (Drive, Blade Runner 2049), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and Ana de Armas (Knives Out, No Time To Die) locked-in for lead roles.
Henwick is no stranger to genre projects with credit that include Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Game of Thrones, Marvel’s Iron Fist, Godzilla vs Kong, and 20th Century’s recent sci-fi horror flick Underwater. Jessica recently revealed while working alongside Keanu Reeves for the new Matrix film that she has been lobbying to join the John Wick franchise as Jessica Wick.
It’s script was penned by The Russo Brothers with a polish by fellow Marvel alumni Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry. The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.
The Russo Brothers are coming off massive success with Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing film to ever be released and will follow it up next year with their heist drama Cherry starring Spider-Man 3 actor Tom Holland.
Filming was said to begin next month in Los Angeles, we’ll see if that sticks.
The Gray Man is reportedly the most expensive feature film made by Netflix.
Netflix is slowly ramping-up the scale of it’s film productions and that includes spending more on the budgets. It’s been reported that their upcoming spy thriller The Gray Man from Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will cost the streamer over $200 million making it their most expensive feature film to date.
Deadline now reports a rather large casting addition to the film as actress Ana de Armas will reunite with her Blade Runner 2049 co-star Ryan Glosing. Ana has been gathering up a lot of high-profile film projects recently with the aforementioned Blade Runner sequel from Denis Villeneuve, Rian Johnson’s whodunit Knives Out, and the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die.
It’s script was penned by The Russo Brothers with a polish by fellow Marvel alumni Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry. The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.
Filming was once said to begin shooting next month in Los Angeles, California.
THE RONIN 