'The Gray Man' sequel in the works on Netflix

Netflix’s big-budgeted film began streaming on Friday and was the most watched film in 92 countries

LOS ANGELES:

Netflix is turning its new spy thriller The Gray Man into a franchise, announcing plans on Tuesday for a sequel and spinoff to the action movie starring Ryan Gosling.

The Gray Man, one of Netflix’s most expensive films to date, began streaming on Friday and was the most watched film on the streaming service in 92 countries, the company said. Gosling stars in the film as Sierra Six, a former inmate sprung from prison by the CIA in exchange for servitude in a secret program.

A sequel is now in development with Gosling and directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Netflix said in a statement. The company also announced a separate spinoff movie but did not provide details on the storyline or characters. The expansion of The Gray Man is part of Netflix’s strategy to build brands with well-known characters that can traverse film, television, video games and movies.

The film is based on a novel by Mark Greaney and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers who helmed Marvel's mega-blockbuster Avengers: Endgame. The Russos said Netflix allowed them to bring their full vision to the screen. The Gray Man was filmed at seven locations around the world from Azerbaijan to Croatia and France.

"We wanted to be very ambitious with this movie," Anthony Russo said. "It is hard to shoot action. It's expensive to shoot action, and Netflix was up for this level of ambition." The movie packs in nine major action sequences, including a lengthy gun battle in a public square in Prague. "It was real trial by fire for me having it be my first action film," Gosling said.

Chris Evans plays Gosling's nemesis, an assassin named Lloyd Hansen who was expelled from the CIA for excessive tactics. "He's unapologetically himself," Evans said of the character. "I think most of us walk through the world measuring who we are based on who we think we're supposed to be, and Lloyd is unbound by those social norms."

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.