If you weren’t a Ryan Gosling fan before Barbie this past summer, then you probably became one after seeing it. Gosling was so brilliant as (just) Ken, we honestly feel he deserves an Oscar nomination. But some of us have recognized Gosling’s brilliance for a long time. Like the time he played a stoic replicant in Blade Runner 2049. Or a stoic Hollywood stunt guy in Drive. Well, now he’s playing Colt Seavers, another Hollywood stunt performer, just one who’s clearly more talkative, in The Fall Guy. This action comedy also stars Emily Blunt as Colt’s ex, Jody Moreno, and John Wick and Deadpool 2‘s David Leitch is directing. You can watch the first full trailer right here.
The Fall Guy looks like a throwback to the action comedies of the ’80s and ’90s. This fits, as the film is based on an old ’80s hit TV series, which ran for five seasons from 1981 to 1986. In the show, which starred former Six Million Dollar Man star Lee Majors, he was a Hollywood stuntman who had a second job as a bounty hunter.
This new big-screen version doesn’t seem to do the whole “moonlights as a bounty hunter” part. Instead, it seems like some kind of murder mystery that our hero gets wrapped up in.
David Leitch directing a movie about a stuntman seems like a natural fit. Before he directed his first film in 2014, he had a very impressive resume as a stuntman himself, going back to 1997. We can see his stunt work in movies like Blade and Fight Club. He then became a second unit director, before finally stepping into the director’s chair with the original John Wick. So who better to helm a movie about a guy who does dangerous things in movies for a living? Seems like a match made in heaven.
The Fall Guy‘s synopsis is as follows:
He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?
The Fall Guy hits theaters on March 1, 2024.
Originally published on November 2, 2023.