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'Oppenheimer' star Emily Blunt boards Ryan Gosling-led 'The Fall Guy' movie at Universal
The project hails from Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train director, David Leitch.
Emily Blunt has fallen right into director David Leitch's next blockbuster project. Deadline reports that the Oppenheimer and A Quiet Place star has been cast opposite The Gray Man himself — Ryan Gosling — in The Fall Guy at Universal Pictures. Currently scheduled for theatrical release in May 2024, the film is a modern day adaptation of the 1980s TV show of the same name, which starred Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) as a Hollywood stuntman who works as a bounty hunter when entertainment work becomes hard to find.
That set-up seems like a perfect fit for Gosling, who previously played a Hollywood stunt driver turned criminal getaway driver in 2011's Drive. It's also fitting for Leitch, who got his start in the business as a stunt double and coordinator for movies like Tomorrow Never Dies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Matrix Reloaded. The original Fall Guy series was conceived by television legend, the late Glen A. Larson, creator of Quincy, M.E., Battlestar Galactica, Magnum, P.I., and Knight Rider.
In a making-of documentary centered around the show, Larson describes The Fall Guy as "the most fun" of all his small screen creations. "There was a big trend in the '80s about being interested in stuntmen," he explained. "So I knew the appetite was there for a stunt show."
Leitch made his directorial debut with 2017's Atomic Blonde before going on to helm significant genre tentpoles like Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and the star-studded Bullet Train (now playing in theaters everywhere). Hobbs & Shaw co-writer Drew Pearce penned the screenplay for The Fall Guy and is on board to executive produce the feature. Leitch and Kelly McCormick are producers under their 87North banner.
Speaking with Collider this month, Leitch teased the movie as "a reimagining" of the source material. "It's about a stuntman who gets embroiled in some crazy drama outside of the movie business, and mayhem ensues," he said. "And so, there's fun and action, and we're trying to make a big summer movie with it. And Universal's incredibly supportive, and Ryan's been really collaborative on the material, and we're starting shooting in October. And so, we're in pre-production right now.”
He continued: “We'll definitely want to have fun with the movie world. I think, again, for all of us involved, it's sort of like, 'Yes, it's about a stuntman.' So whatever drama that's happening to this guy, it's like any other movie. It's a great world for that drama to be happening in. And then it's so rich with anecdotes from Kelly [McCormick, producer]'s experiences, my experiences, Ryan's experiences. We're definitely going to have a lot of fun playing with the movie, our movie experiences inside of this movie."
The Fall Guy is slated for a wide theatrical bow on May 3, 2024.
