'The Gray Man' Writer Stephen Mcfeely On Writing With Joe Russo, Real World Inspiration & Possible Sequel

Hollywood Journal

'The Gray Man' screenwriter Stephen Mcfeely talks about writing with director Joe Russo, his real world inspirations for the script and a possible 'Gray Man' sequel and franchise.

Transcript

00:00What was it like writing this movie with Joe Russo?

00:03Oh, well, you know, not unlike the movies we've done before.

00:06It's just that he's got, you know, it started with him.

00:09You know, I mean, like, he wrote the first drafts,

00:12and then, you know, there's a tortured history to the project, right,

00:15where it went a number of different ways.

00:17And then after our time at Marvel and we're starting a new studio,

00:21you know, we got the rights back.

00:23And so we got the rights back to Joe's original script,

00:25and then now it made sense for all of us to sort of dive in

00:28and do what we've been doing for the last 10 years, you know,

00:31and working on it the way that the four of us have worked on it.

00:34So for my money, it didn't change that much, you know.

00:37It was just like working with Joe, you know.

00:39What drew you to this story and this book, The Gray Man?

00:42Well, I love action. I love action books and I love action movies, right?

00:47I certainly grew up on them as a kid, you know,

00:50from sort of the thoughtful 70s ones of Three Days of the Condor,

00:54you know, maybe cynical ones, and to the delightful, you know,

00:57die-hard movies, you know.

00:59So, you know, 9 and 10 and 12-year-old Steve is really excited

01:03to roll around in these movies.

01:05And now in some ways it's a little like Marvel,

01:08it's just that there's no superhero here.

01:10And there's a little, you know, there's a little real-world tension

01:14and occasional cynicism, you know, which I also like to throw in there.

01:18A real-world hero, I guess you could say.

01:20And there's bad guys, too.

01:21Yeah, and certainly we've had a lot of talks with a lot of people

01:25for whom this is not that fantastic, right?

01:29Like, we talked to ex-CIA officers, you know.

01:32We'd certainly, like, there's, we try to get as much real-world stuff in

01:37and still allow you to have a good time at the movies, yeah.

01:40What are you most excited for viewers to see in this movie when they watch it on Netflix?

01:44I mean, Gosling and Evans, I think, are going to go down as iconic movie stars, right?

01:49And so the idea that I got to write and you guys get to watch these two guys go at it is,

01:54I mean, that's what you'll walk away with.

01:56Like, oh, I just saw two sort of lions, you know, fighting in a cage.

02:01Now, the movie is non-stop action. I mean, it starts and it doesn't stop.

02:05What do you think makes this movie different than any action movie we've seen in a long time?

02:09I am interested in the idea that this possible franchise or just this idea that this particular spy

02:16is a bit of a younger, more emotional spy, right?

02:22Like, when you see it, there are stakes to it that are solely personal.

02:26Like, it's, I'm, not to spoil too much, but I'm trying to save one person, you know?

02:31And the idea that it's not for king and country necessarily, but it's for one person,

02:37I think is a, I think it might appeal to a nice young audience.

02:42That's what I think, you know, separates the franchise from other ones.

02:45Now, you said possible franchise, so what's the word on The Gray Man 2?

02:50And will you be involved?

02:51If there is one, I will be involved. How about that? Yes.

02:54But lots of conversations are certainly happening.

02:56Do you hope there is another movie?

02:58Oh, for sure. Yes, I've done too much, I've had too many sleepless nights thinking about it

03:03and writing things down. Yeah, sure.

03:04Awesome. Thank you so much.

03:06Appreciate it.

03:08You

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