The Gray Man is a 2022 American action thriller film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay the latter co-wrote with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney.

The film stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters, Dhanush (in his Hollywood debut), Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thornton.

Produced by the Russo brothers' company AGBO, it is the first film in a franchise based upon Greaney's Gray Man novels.

An adaptation of Greaney's novel was originally announced in 2011, with James Gray set to direct Brad Pitt, and later Charlize Theron in a gender-swapped role, though neither version ever came to fruition.

The property lingered in development hell until July 2020, when it was announced the Russo brothers would direct, with both Gosling and Evans attached to star.

Fitzroy offers him his freedom in exchange for working as an assassin in the CIA's Sierra program, an elite black ops unit, which will allow him to exist in the gray.

He hands Six an encrypted drive detailing the corruption of CIA official Denny Carmichael, the lead agent on the assassination mission.

Sending the drive to former Sierra Program handler Margaret Cahill in Prague, he calls a now-retired Fitzroy to request extraction.

Carmichael hires mercenary Lloyd Hansen, a former CIA agent kicked out for his sociopathic tendencies, to track down Six and retrieve the drive.

Charlize Theron entered talks to star in a gender-swapped version of the film at Sony Pictures, with Anthony and Joe Russo writing the screenplay.

[8][9] No further development was announced until July 2020, when the Russo brothers were announced to direct the film, from a screenplay by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, with additional material written by Anna Gregory, Charles Leavitt, Rhett Reese, Joe Schrapnel, and Paul Wernick, for Netflix, to spawn a franchise.

[1][10] In December, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters and Dhanush were added to the cast.

[11][12] Regé-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, Eme Ikwuakor, and Scott Haze joined the cast in March 2021.

[20] It filmed in Europe in the spring,[21] with locations including Prague, Czech Republic, the Château de Chantilly in France, Croatia and as well as in Baku, Azerbaijan.

[30][31] Though Netflix does not report theatrical grosses for its titles, distribution insiders estimated the film made around $200,000 from about 400 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "The Gray Man has the star-studded outline of an entertaining action thriller, but it's filled in with lukewarm leftovers from far better films.