The box office debut verdict of Ryan Gosling’s The Fall Guy is out and it does not paint a great picture for the action-comedy film. While the viewers and critics have given their thumbs up to the film, the film only made $28.5 million in its domestic opening and its $140 million budget poses a big trouble. It may even impede the chances of a sequel, which Gosling revealed to be already in the books.
The whole situation with The Fall Guy weirdly seems similar to another Gosling film that audiences loved but failed at the box office. The Nice Guys, also starring Russell Crowe, was supposed to get a sequel but it never happened due to its poor collection.
Ryan Gosling Has Plans For The Fall Guy 2 But Box Office Numbers Are Not In Favor Of The Film
Ryan Gosling performed some of his own stunts for David Leitch‘s new action-comedy film, The Fall Guy. Gosling pairs with Emily Blunt to play a stuntman Colt who has to track down a missing movie star, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, to save Blunt’s character Jody’s big studio movie. During an interview with Fast Company before the release of the film, the La La Land actor revealed that a sequel for the film was already in the plan.
He shared that they even had a story thread for the sequel and hoped that audiences loved this movie enough for the sequel to get made. Gosling shared that he and the others loved the world created by Leitch and felt confident in doing another film. He shared with Fast Company:
“The sequel sort of wrote itself. We already know [the story] intimately. We’re just hoping that people like this movie enough that we get to keep telling the story of these characters. We love them so much, and we love this world, and I feel confident that we can do it.”
However, the audience’s love is currently not proving enough for the sequel to be made. The box office numbers look troubling and the debut collection fell disappointingly below the predictions. According to Variety, the film collected $28.5 million in the domestic market while the predictions put this number at $30 to $40 million. The film’s worldwide collection stood at $65.4 million on debut.
While the number is typical for an action comedy film, the massive $140 million budget puts heavy pressure on the film to perform better and become a box office success. There is still hope for the film as Leitch’s previous film Bullet Train picked up after a disappointing $30 million debut (via Box Office Mojo). At this point, The Fall Guy 2 appears to be a distant dream and might end up like Gosling’s The Nice Guys 2.
The Fall Guy 2 May Have The Same Fate As The Nice Guys 2 If Box Office Doesn’t Pick Up
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling starrer The Nice Guys received positive reviews from critics. Audiences too loved the pairing of Crowe and Gosling and how the film handled humor and mystery. Director Shane Black talked about a follow-up film before the release of the film in 2016 (via Cinemablend) and reiterated his desire to make one in 2018 (via Fandango).
The Barbie actor opened up about why a sequel to The Nice Guys never happened during a recent interview with ComicBook.com. Gosling shared that sequels were decided by box office openings and that Angry Birds destroyed their opening weekend collection. He shared with ComicBook.com:
“So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie, and we opened up against Angry Birds. So Angry Birds just, just destroyed us. Angry Birds got a sequel.”
The Angry Birds Movie had an opening weekend collection of $38 million, while The Nice Guys had a disappointing $11.2 million opening at the box office (via Deadline). The Fall Guy opening also shares a similar trend despite having no major competitors, which could be bad news for the fans of the Drive actor.
The Fall Guy is currently running in theaters, while The Nice Guys is now available for rent on AppleTV+.
