The Gray Man, Netflix's hugely expensive new action thriller, scored a huge opening weekend on the streaming service.
The film, which cost $200 million to make, is based on the book series of the same name by Mark Greaney. It follows Ryan Gosling's CIA agent, Court Gentry aka Sierra Six, a highly trained and agency-sanctioned operative, who suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of the CIA and on the run. Gentry must try to stay one step ahead of Chris Evans' former CIA partner Lloyd Hansen, as he pursues the Sierra Six on a cross-world adventure that is sure to test the loyalties of everyone involved.
Joining Gosling and Evans are Ana de Armas from No Time to Die, Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton, Alfre Woodard from 12 Years a Slave and Jessica Henwick from The Matrix Resurrections. The Russo brothers, the men behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe mega-hits Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, spearheaded the project.
Despite mixed reviews, the Netflix movie, which we called "a suitably entertaining, tension-filled spy flick that feels like a summer blockbuster from yesteryear," was fueled by a heavy round of hype. This included TechRadar's own conversation with The Russo Brothers and a major marketing campaign, all in an effort to get as many viewers on the couches for the film's opening weekend as possible.
Netflix publishes a weekly list (opens in a new tab), detailing its most popular movies over a seven-day period, starting in November 2021, allowing everyone to see how well their favorite shows and movies performed on the internet. service.
Ranking titles by weekly hours viewed, which is the total number of hours subscribers around the world watched each title between Monday and Sunday of the previous week, Netflix routinely shares four separate lists: two for movies (English and non-English, English) and two for television programs (English and non-English).
The Gray Man, which debuted on the streamer on Friday, July 22, has amassed 88,55 million hours of playback; a great opening weekend for any Netflix original.
Those numbers put it above the opening numbers of Adam Sandler's Hustle, hit comedy The Man From Toronto, and erotic thriller 365 Days: This Day, all of which hit No. 2022 within days of their release. It's not Netflix's biggest movie opening weekend of XNUMX, though.
Who defeated the Gray Man?
Ryan Reynolds. Specifically, the sci-fi family adventure The Adam Project, which clocked in at 92,43 million hours of viewing in its first weekend on Netflix in March.
Amazingly, The Adam Project stayed on top for three more weeks, even pulling in an additional 85,6 million hours of viewing in its second week on the platform. Considering how much he spent on The Gray Man, Netflix execs hope the spectacular action has the same staying power.
With that being said, Netflix must be very happy with The Gray Man and its creative team. Yesterday (July 26), it was announced that the film would have a sequel and a spin-off film. Ryan Gosling is confirmed to be returning, as are the Russo brothers, but The Gray Man 2 currently doesn't have an official title or release date. However, it will likely follow the plot of the second novel in Mark Greaney's thriller series, which is called On Target.
Meanwhile, the spinoff, which will be written by Deadpool writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, is set to "explore a different element of The Gray Man universe."
Analysis: Will Netflix be happy with these numbers?
Considering that they just ordered a sequel and a spin-off, we'd have to conclude that yes, they are. However, it's worth saying that these numbers are a far cry from the kinds of numbers Netflix released in 2021.
The Red Notice powered by Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Gal Gadot managed to attract 148,7 million viewers in its November 2021 debut, while the star-studded drama Don't Look Up enjoyed a second run. week on the platform with more than 152 million viewers.
These remarkable successes came in the dead of winter, not the dead of summer, as Covid-19 cases continued to rise. Expectations have changed since then, so The Gray Man's three-day run of 88 million viewers is still huge. However, it is unclear if he will have the remaining powers that his predecessors had.