''The Gray Man'' is the debut novel by

Mark Greaney Mark Greaney (born 23 June 1980) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish musician. He is best known as the singer and guitarist in the alternative rock band JJ72, which he frontman, fronted from 1996 until 2006. He was later the frontman of Concerto f ...

, first published in 2009 by

Jove Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...

. It is also the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

operative Court Gentry. The novel follows Gentry on a mission across Europe to rescue his handler, Sir Donald Fitzroy, and his family in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, from Lloyd, a member of a gigantic French corporation and former CIA officer who wants Gentry terminated in order to shepherd a billion-dollar deal for oil interests in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, where its president, in turn, wants Gentry dead for the assassination of his brother.

Film adaptation

There have been several attempts to turn the novel into a film, initially with

Christopher McQuarrie Christopher McQuarrie is an American filmmaker. He received the BAFTA Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the neo-noir mystery film ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995). He made his directorial debut wi ...

attached to direct in 2016. After that version fell through, the project lay dormant until July 2020, when

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

announced their plans to adapt it. Eventually, it was directed by

Joe and Anthony Russo Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...

, with Joe Russo also writing the screenplay, and

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Christopher Markus (born January 2, 1970) and Stephen McFeely (born February 24, 1970) are American screenwriters and producers. McFeely and Markus were the second and the third most successful screenwriters of all time in terms of U.S. box offic ...

performing a re-write. Starring

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received ...

, Chris Evans,

Ana de Armas Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

Wagner Moura Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...

Julia Butters Julia Butters (born April 15, 2009) is an American teenage actress. She received critical acclaim for her role as Trudi Fraser in Quentin Tarantino's '' Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' and as Reggie Fabelman in Steven Spielberg's '' The Fabelman ...

, and

Jessica Henwick Jessica Yu-Li Henwick (born 30 August 1992) is a BAFTA nominated English actress, writer and director. She is known for her roles as Nymeria Sand in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2015–2017), X-wing pilot Jessika Pava in the film '' Sta ...

, filming commenced in 2021 on a $200 million budget. It was eventually released on July 22, 2022.

References

The Gray Man 2009 American novels 2009 debut novels American thriller novels American novels adapted into films Jove Books books {{2000s-thriller-novel-stub