The Gray Man, a new thriller by Marvel maestros Anthony and Joe Russo, has the perfect ingredients for a summer blockbuster: a hero with a mysterious past (Ryan Gosling), an appalling villain (Chris Evans) and relentless, edge-of-the seat action.
What sets this film apart from the usual summer blockbuster, however, is the way it is being released. Netflix, which financed the roughly $200mn film, is opening The Gray Man on Friday in 23 markets for just one week before it moves exclusively to the streaming service. Action fans will need to move fast if they want to catch it in a cinema.
The strategy seems especially unusual for a movie directed by two of the highest-earning film-makers in history, and for a film that is dropping just as the box office is rebounding strongly from its pandemic nadir on the back of Top Gun: Maverick’s $1bn-plus haul.