After underperforming at the box office, Ryan Gosling’s action remake with 82% on Rotten Tomatoes gets a new sequel update from director David Leitch. Gosling continues to excel across genres, getting his start with The Notebook (2004) before branching into ultra-serious thrillers, romantic comedies, musicals, and family fare. Gosling will now be best known to many audiences for his role as Ken in 2023’s Barbie, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film’s massive success has led to early talks about a potential Barbie 2, which would undoubtedly feature Gosling back as the comedic sidekick. Not all of Gosling’s films are as widely seen as Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed Barbie, however. Lars and the Real Girl (2007), for example, remains a charming Gosling indie classic, but some of his larger-budget efforts also fly under the radar. Films like Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and First Man (2018) disappointed in terms of their theatrical performances, but both were well-received by critics and audiences alike. A 2024 action comedy has now joined these titles as a film that didn’t match expectations.
The Fall Guy 2’s Chances Addressed By Director

Leitch gets candid about the possibility of a sequel to The Fall Guy. Serving as a remake of a 1980s TV show, the 2024 action comedy stars Gosling as Colt Seavers, a stuntman who embarks on a mission to recover a missing movie star following a serious accident. Also starring Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Hannah Waddingham, among others, the film released to positive reviews for its mixture of practical action, comedy, and romance. This positive reception didn’t help the movie at the box office, however, and its $181 million worldwide haul cast doubt on a potential The Fall Guy 2. Now, during a recent interview with THR, Leitch addresses The Fall Guy 2, revealing that he and Gosling have spoken about where the story could go next. While it doesn’t sound like a sequel will be happening anytime soon, the director hints that continued enthusiasm from audiences could change that down the line. Check out his comment below:
Ryan and us had early conversations and some treatments of where this is going. We had some really fun ideas. So who knows, maybe down the line it becomes one of those IPs that people want to revisit because it has such a following past theatrical. That would be my dream, but if it doesn’t, there’s a lot of other stories to tell.

What This Means For The Fall Guy 2

Ryan Gosling wearing sunglasses in The Fall Guy

In isolation, a $181 million worldwide gross is not a terrible result for The Fall Guy’s box office. The problem is that the film had a large budget of around $130 million. Using the standard rule of thumb, the movie could have been looking at a break-even point of $325 million, a goal it clearly fell far short of.

A Hollywood movie generally has to gross around two-and-a-half times its budget to break even at the box office.

The only way a sequel gets off the ground after that kind of result is continued strong VOD and streaming performance for years into the future. Even then, though, it seems like a long shot. If a sequel were to get the green light following The Fall Guy’s ending, the follow-up would almost certainly feature a smaller budget. Still, a sequel isn’t impossible. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film sports an 84% Popcornmeter score on top of its 82% critics’ score, indicating that most viewers who watched The Fall Guy enjoyed it. It doesn’t sound like audiences should hold their breath for a follow-up anytime soon, but it’s clearly not entirely outside the realm of possibility.

The Fall Guy

8/10

Release Date

May 3, 2024

Runtime

126 Minutes

Director

David Leitch

Writers

Glen A. Larson, Drew Pearce

Producers

Glen A. Larson