Action scenes for The Gray Man were filmed in Prague, and the Russo Brothers say they caused major traffic jams.
Producers of "The Gray Man"
Joe and Anthony Russo worry that they may be banned from entering Prague after their involvement in the shooting of The Gray Man.
Joe Russo co-wrote the script for the forthcoming action film The Gray Man, which he and his brother, the other filmmaker, both directed and produced.
Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Billy Bob Thornton are just a few of the A-list actors featured in the film.
A CIA mercenary inadvertently exposes deadly secrets within the organization and is forced to go on the run when a former colleague places a reward on his head and launches a global manhunt.
The Russo brothers have plenty of experience with action films.
They became well-known due to their work inside the MCU, as they directed four key franchise films (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame).
The Gray Man is the second time the Russo siblings have worked with Evans; this time, they did it outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The Russo brothers explain why they don't expect to be invited back to Prague anytime soon, and they discuss how they went about filming the film's action sequences.
The Russo brothers, whose press conference SR attended, said that they frequently had to close off highways or crowded regions in order to film their major blockbusters in certain locations.
They are sometimes greeted with wide arms when they arrive in this town.
They "shut down the motorway for two weeks" for filming The Gray Man, and the city of Prague was not pleased.
Read on to hear the whole conversation that took place between Joe and Anthony Russo:
Joseph Russo:
It's noteworthy that every time you enter a town (like we did with Winter Soldier), you have to shut down a motorway.
Everyone was thrilled to return to their own Cleveland for filming.
The highway was closed for two weeks after that and...
That they weren't overjoyed, to paraphrase what I was going to say, is what I was going to say, Anthony Russo.
And then, as Joe Russo puts it, "they weren't happy."
It didn't last long at all.
I doubt we'll ever return to Prague or Cleveland, but we're quite appreciative of the opportunities afforded us by shooting on-site there.
With Billy Bob Thornton in the role of Donald Fitzroy
It's clear that the Russo brothers have captured the enthusiasm that a city's citizens feel when a blockbuster film is shot there.
On the other side, obviously, being a traffic hazard is an unavoidable consequence of shooting elaborate pursuit scenes and action sequences on site.
The Gray Man's action sequences were shot on site, which caused some inconvenience but perhaps paid off in the end.
Critics have given their verdicts on the Netflix picture The Gray Man, and they are not as enthusiastic as the Russo brothers are used to hearing.
Despite the widespread acclaim for Gosling and Evans' primary performances, some have questioned the success of the film's attempts to evoke an '80s vibe through cornball jokes and story beats.
It will be fascinating to watch how well The Gray Man does this year while competing with other popular action pictures like Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion.
When The Gray Man debuts on Netflix in late July, viewers will have their say on the film's premise and the action scenes set in Prague.
