ryan-gosling-stuntman-movie-david-leitch

Two-time Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling is set to star in an untitled stuntman drama from director David Leitch and screenwriter Drew Pearce, who previously worked together on the Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw.

Universal Pictures won a heated seven-figure auction for the project, reportedly beating out Netflix, MGM, Sony and Lionsgate. Of course, Leitch has a first-look deal at Universal, giving that studio the edge. Gosling will produce with Leitch and his 87North partner Kelly McCormick, as well as Guymon Casady of Entertainment 360, which is the content arm of Management 360.

Though the project is believed to be in the vein of the '80s TV series The Fall Guy, if not an outright adaptation, but either way, the project is clearly personal for Leitch, who is a former stuntman himself. He and fellow stuntman Chad Stahelski teamed up to co-direct John Wick and saw their filmmaking careers take off, with Leitch going on to direct movies like Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde. Gosling is no stranger to playing a stuntman, as that's what his Drive character did when he wasn't manning the getaway car during LA-area heists.

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Image via FilmDistrict

I've long been drawn to the world of stuntmen, and even wrote a script in college about a young man who goes on a road trip to Canada to meet his stuntman uncle. It seems like such a fascinating job, and these brave men and women get such little credit, especially considering the fact that they lay their lives and bodies on the line for the sake of art. The Academy doesn't even honor people who do stunts, and that seems incredibly unfair to me.

Leitch is currently prepping Sony's action movie Bullet Train starring Brad Pitt, while Gosling has a full plate himself, as he's set to star opposite Chris Evans in the Russo brothers' Netflix movie The Gray Man, a Wolfman movie from Leigh Whannell, and an astronaut movie from Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Gosling is one of my favorite actors and it's been too long since I've seen him in something great. I wasn't a fan of First Man or Blade Runner 2049, so Gosling hasn't really impressed me since La La Land, and I can't wait for him to return to peak form, because I know he's capable of real greatness.

Deadline broke the news about this stuntman movie, and you can click here to watch our Collider Connected interview with Leitch and Stahelski.