Billed as Netflix's most expensive film yet, The Gray Man is expected to cost the streaming service $200 million (Dh734.5m) to make. However, as the title marks the beginning of a series in the style of the James Bond franchise, it is clear the streaming platform has the long game in mind. But this is not the first time Netflix has spent big money on a project. We take a look at some of its most expensive films to date.
1. 'The Gray Man'
The Gray Man, which stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the filmmakers behind Avengers: Endgame.
The film will detail a deadly feud between assassin Court Gentry (Gosling) and his former CIA cohort Lloyd Hansen (Evans), as Gentry tries to save the lives of his daughters, who don't know he exists. According to Deadline, Gosling is expected to reprise the role of Gentry in future instalments.
"The movie is a real mano a mano between those two great actors who represent two different versions of the CIA, in what it can be, and what it can do," Anthony Russo told Deadline. "For those who were fans of Captain America: Winter Soldier, this is us moving into that territory in more of a real-world setting. That's what this movie really means for us."
2. ‘Bright’
It seems like yesterday that Bright was released to the streaming platform.
It was an ambitious project, costing $90m, but it failed to impress critics, ending up with a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 28 per cent.
Netflix maintains, however, that the film was a hit with its subscribers. Shortly after its release in 2017, executives claimed the film was one of the most-watched originals produced by the streaming company, across both film and TV.
3. ‘Triple Frontier’
Starring Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac and Pedro Pascal, Triple Frontier cost an estimated $115m to make.
But the film, about former Special Forces operatives planning a heist, seemed to be worth it, as it became the eighth-most popular Netflix film to be released, with 63 million views in its first four weeks.
4. ‘6 Underground’
With a budget of $150m, there was nothing stopping Michael Bay from crashing cars and detonating explosives to his heart's desire in 6 Underground.
6 Underground, which was partially shot in Abu Dhabi, is the fourth most popular Netflix film of all time, raking in more than 80 million views in the first four weeks of its release.
5. ‘The Irishman’
With Martin Scorsese at the helm and a star-studded cast including Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, Netflix probably didn’t flinch at the $159m budget assigned to the film; even if a large chunk of the money went to the de-aging technology used to make the cast look younger.
The Irishman was, by all accounts, a hit with both critics and audiences. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars in 2020 and had more than 64 million views in its first four weeks of release.
6. ‘Red Notice’
This upcoming action comedy thriller stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
The film's release date is still unknown, mainly because production was postponed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The budget has also not been confirmed, but is estimated to run to about $175m. The film tells the story of an Interpol agent (Johnson) who tries to capture the world's most wanted art thief (Gadot).