The Gray Man London film premiere 2023

1. Chris Evans originally was considered for the lead role, but he declined it to play the villain.
2. Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans were both encouraged to improvise their lines. Their first character face to face meeting was completely improvised.
3. On Chris Evans' first day of filming, he accidentally hit Ryan Gosling in the face with his prop gun.
4. The movie's $200 million budget makes it, as of 2022, the most expensive Netflix original movie, tied with Red Notice (2021). The Irishman (2019) was rumored to have cost as much as $250 million, but most sources reported its budget was $160 million.
5. (at around 1hr 13 mins) Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) says, "10 million dollars to the first person who puts a bullet in that Ken Doll's head!" Ryan Gosling just finished production of Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie (2023), where he, of course, plays Ken.
6. When Claire (Julia Butters) asks Six (Ryan Gosling) what his tattoo means, he answers it's the Greek name of a man who pushes a rock up a mountain. He refers to Sysiphus, a figure in Greek mythology who was punished by the gods. His punishment was rolling a boulder up the mountain for eternity, with the rock rolling down every time he was nearly at the top. This can be seen as a metaphor for Six's career: nameless hit after hit, without ever truly getting somewhere.
7. Based on the book written by Mark Greaney, who has taken over Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan 'series'. Mark has 5 novels in the Gray Man saga to date.
8. While on the set of the film, Dhanush won his second National Award for Best Actor (the Indian equivalent of an Oscar) for his performance in Asuran (2019).
9. In one of the scenes, Lloyd address Lone Wolf as "my sexy Tamil friend". Actor Dhanush, who plays the character of Lone Wolf, is considered to be one of the sexiest and most accomplished actors of modern times in India. He has won over 45 Awards and has featured 6 times in the Forbes India celebrity list. He has prominently worked in Tamil movies.
10. Ana de Armas previously has collaborated with both leading men. This movie marks the second collaboration with Ryan Gosling, after Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and the second collaboration with Chris Evans, after Knives Out (2019); Evans will later star in Ghosted.
11. Brad Pitt was attached as the lead and James Gray was set to direct the project since 2011, but dropped out. Christopher McQuarrie was set to direct Charlize Theron until that iteration fell apart.
12. Six twice asks another character if they are a 42 regular. In "Crazy Stupid Love," he tells Steve Carell's character Cal, that Cal is wearing a 44 when he should be wearing a 42 regular.
13. When Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) is first on the call with Six (Ryan Gosling) he refers to Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) as his "COS". In the CIA, this refers to a given operative's Chief of Station. While some Chiefs of Station are over geographic areas and typically work out of American embassies overseas, a Chief of Station can also be the executive over a particular program, so Fitzroy's station is the Sierra program. Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page) is the DO, which is the Deputy Director of Operations, also called the Clandestine Service, which manages literal spies in the field as well as paramilitary operations and liaisons with special operations assets in the military. The CIA also has a Deputy Director who is just under the Director, and Deputy Directors with specific portfolios for Science and Technology, Analysis (formerly called "Intelligence"), Digital Innovation, and Support.
14. Lloyd Hanson (Chris Evans) at one point says, "You find the ones they love, and you squeeze." This is similar to a quote from Kittridge (Henry Czerny, Mission: Impossible (1996)) where he says, "Everybody has pressure points, Barnes. You find something that's personally important to him and you squeeze"; other similarities include both characters hunting a "rogue" agent.
15. Chris Evans and Alfre Woodard previously starred in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
16. The production of the film has been supported by Czech Republic through State Fund of Cinematography from the Film Incentives Program.
17. The film cast includes one Oscar winner: Billy Bob Thornton; and two Oscar nominees: Ryan Gosling and Alfre Woodard.
18. The film benefited from the French Tax Rebate for International Production.
19. With the participation of the British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit.
20. Joe Russo: one of the CIA executives at the end of the movie.
21. The final battle of the film is filmed at the Château de Chantilly, north of Paris. This location was also used for the World War I first-person shooter video game Battlefield 1, for the map "Ballroom Blitz", even though the Château was never involved in any actual battles during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The film does stage a battle sequence throughout the location that closely resembles a multiplayer match in Battlefield 1.

Genre

Action,Thriller

Cast

as Six

as Lloyd Hansen

as Dani Miranda

as Fitzroy

as Suzanne Brewer

as Avik San

as Margaret Cahill

as Carmichael

as Laszlo Sosa

as Claire

as Six's Father

as Dulin

as Perini

as Markham

as Dining Car

as The Buyer

as Young Six

as Dawson