“We haven’t really been in this genre yet,” Mr.

The Gray Man appears to be an obvious repeat of that spy-thriller formula. Stuber greenlit the Bourne franchise while at Universal Pictures. Scott Stuber, Netflix’s head of global film told The New York Times he’s been hoping to help the company break into big franchise action films since he arrived five years ago. Here’s what we know about the future of The Gray Man. This is good news for fans looking for a sequel to The Gray Man, a film with DNA reminiscent of several other action franchises-including the Bourne movies, the Bond movies, and the Mission Impossible movies. It’s too soon to tell whether this strategy will pay off, but it does suggest a forward-looking film cycle, where Netflix hopes to run several action franchises simultaneously. (At a much lower budget, and with rated-R stylistic action, Extraction may be a bit of the odd one out, production-wise.)Īudiences appear to want popcorn action, which is why Netflix bought the Russos’ The Gray Man-and why they’re also putting $200 million into another Russo production, The Electric State. Both Extractionand Red Notice brought in massive viewer numbers, and both of these properties have been given sequels. That gamble: inject enough huge tentpole properties into viewers' accounts that they'll watch-and stick around to watch more.Īnd there are precedents big movies have paid off in the past. The Gray Man represents something of a gamble on the part of Netflix, which has lost one million subscribers this quarter (still lower than expected), an anticipated decline that has already led to hundreds of layoffs at the company. (And since we’re comparing millions, it's worth noting that The Gray Man’s closest non-streaming produced film comparison this year is Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder, at $250 million, making Netflix just about as willing to rain movie cash as Disney.) Directed by Marvel’s Joe and Anthony Russo ( Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame), the film follows other attempted A-list action tentpoles for the streaming service, including Extraction ($65 million), The Old Guard ( $70 million), and Red Notice ( $150 million). It’s the talking point of most media buzz, and it’s the first thing we should get out of the way: at somewhere around $200 million, The Gray Man (starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans) is now Netflix’s most expensive original movie.

Jason bourne movies in order on netflix