Ryan Gosling is getting his Cliff Booth alter-ego on.
The “Barbie” Oscar hopeful leads David Leitch‘s “The Fall Guy” as Colt, a stuntman who is forced back to work on his ex-girlfriend’s (Emily Blunt) directorial debut alongside the movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) for whom he used to stunt double for.
Leitch (“Bullet Train”) directs the film, inspired by the hit 1980s TV series of the same name. Drew Pearce (“Hobbs & Shaw”) is behind the script.
The logline states that a former stuntman springs back into action when the star of a new movie goes missing. The full synopsis reads: 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?
Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie — being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno, played by Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt —goes missing. While the film’s ruthless producer (Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham), maneuvers to keep the disappearance of star Tom Ryder (Golden Globe winner Aaron Taylor-Johnson) a secret from the studio and the media, Colt performs the film’s most outrageous stunts while trying (with limited success) to charm his way back into Jody’s good graces. But as the mystery around the missing star deepens, Colt will find himself ensnared in a sinister, criminal plot that will push him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt.
The film also stars Winston Duke and Stephanie Hsu. Original TV series actor Lee Majors is expected to have a cameo in the feature.
The shows a smoldering Gosling bickering with his ex (Blunt) before telling her “perfection is my middle name.” An unrecognizably brunette Waddingham proposes that Gosling win back the “love of his life” by saving the leading man (Taylor-Johnson) and her movie in the process. Gosling does some “‘Jason Bourne’ shit” in the process, including jumping off of a building and participating in a car chase with an adorable (stunt?) dog before icing his hand in a cosmo.
Director Leitch and Kelly McCormick produce through their 87Noth banner, along with actor Gosling and Guymon Casady’s Entertainment 360 company. Drew Pearce, Geoff Shaevitz, and “The Fall Guy” TV series creator Glen A. Larson serve as executive producers.
Helmer Leitch, who previously worked as a stuntman himself, told Collider in 2022 that “The Fall Guy” will have a meta comedy component.
“We’ll definitely want to have fun with the movie world. I think, again, for all of us involved, it’s sort of like, ‘Yes, it’s about a stuntman.’ So whatever drama that’s happening to this guy, it’s like any other movie. It’s a great world for that drama to be happening in,” Leitch said. “And then it’s so rich with anecdotes from Kelly [McCormick, producer]’s experiences, my experiences, Ryan’s experiences. We’re definitely going to have a lot of fun playing with the movie, our movie experiences inside of this movie.”
To note, Gosling previously played a stuntman in Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.”
Producer McCormick added to Collider, “David coming from stunts, and telling a story about a stuntman who is coming into his own through having to investigate a crime. [It’s] incredibly special in the sense that we get to do – We’re really trying to do a lot of practical action on this. We always do, but in this case, it’s really big practical action. And it just feels like we’re paying homage to the stunt community and to, really, cinema and those of us who make the movies. And it’s sort of a love letter to the industry. On top of it just being really fun and what I think will be a really good time for the audience.”
“The Fall Guy” premieres March 1 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
