Netflix's 'The Gray Man' loses most-watched spot to THIS film
The Gray Man, directed by Anthony and Joseph Russo, had a lot riding on it. However, the Netflix film could enjoy the top spot on the streamer's US most-watched movies list only for eight straight days until it was replaced by another Netflix film—Purple Hearts. For a film made with a $200M budget, The Gray Man reportedly didn't get quite the traction it expected.
Film had the perfect recipe for a blockbuster
The Gray Man was considered to be one of the biggest releases from the Russo brothers, known for their work in the immensely popular Marvel film Avengers: Endgame. The film had the perfect recipe to deliver a sure-shot blockbuster, given that it had a star-studded cast featuring actors Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas. However, that apparently couldn't save The Gray Man.
'Purple Hearts' had lower budget compared to 'The Gray Man'
As mentioned above, The Gray Man was escorted to second place on the streamer's most-watched domestic list by Purple Hearts, which was a rather low-budget film as compared to The Gray Man. Purple Hearts is a military immigrant romance flick starring actors Sofia Carson and Nicholas Galitzine. The former is a story about a chase between ex-CIA cohorts initiated by a destructive security breach.
'The Gray Man' amassed over 88 million hours of streaming
Netflix had reported that the Russo brothers' film had recorded more than 88 million hours of streaming across the world in the first weekend. This was reportedly the fifth largest for a Netflix Original. As per reports, the film will have to stick around until October to overtake Red Notice starring Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds, in terms of total hours viewed.
Makers announced sequel, spinoff to create 'The Gray Man' universe
Days after the Netflix film's release, the makers announced that they would extend the film, adapted from Mark Greaney's 2009 novel, to create a The Gray Man universe with a sequel and also a spinoff. "We are thrilled that Netflix is announcing a sequel with Ryan (Gosling), as well as a second script that we're excited to talk about soon," the Russo brothers stated.
