With two big names already leading the cast, the roster for Universal’s The Autumn Man grows with the future Kraven the hunter actor Aaron Taylor Johnson. The upcoming movie, directed by John Wick and Deadpool 2 alum David Leitch, is a cinematic reboot of the 1980s TV series of the same name, starring Lee Majors as Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers on the sidelines as a bounty hunter. In addition to Lee, the cast for the original The Autumn Man series included Douglas Barr as Seavers’ cousin Howie, and Heather Thomas as fellow stuntwoman Jody Banks.
Development on a film adaptation of The Autumn Man has been in the making for over a decade now, with Casino royale‘s Martin Campbell and The babysitter‘s McG is in talks to direct at various points and Dwayne Johnson has been a star in the past. Universal would later acquire the rights to the property in 2020 with plans to loosely modify the show with Ryan Gosling leading the cast and Leitch at the helm. Last August it was announced that Emily Blunt had joined the cast, and now another A-list star is joining the thrilling ride of The Autumn Man.
The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Gosling’s The Autumn Man has cast Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the action thriller. The Autumn Man follows Seavers, a stunt double from the past, who works on a movie set with a movie star he’d doubled over years earlier, until the actor suddenly goes missing. Taylor-Johnson plays the movie star who goes missing, while Emily Blunt is also cast in the film as a prosthetic makeup artist with whom Seavers used to have a romantic relationship.
Could Gosling & Taylor-Johnson Be The Next DiCaprio & Pitt?
A double actor/stunt duo against the backdrop of La La Land sounds like Quentin Tarantino’s Once upon a time in Hollywood, with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio as stunt performer and movie star respectively. In The Autumn ManGosling and Johnson seem to have a similar dynamic in this action/adventure thriller as a stunt double from the past and his movie star companion. The similarities don’t end there, though, as like Pitt and DiCaprio, both Gosling and Taylor-Johnson have their own heartbreaking histories in the early years of their careers, as well as extensive experience in the action genre. Gosling showed his action chops in Blade Runner 2049 and Netflix’s the gray manwhile Taylor-Johnson is almost a veteran of the genre at this point in his career, while the English actor starred as the title character in Super awesome more than ten years ago, and has since appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron and that of Christopher Nolan Basic principle, in addition to last summer’s bullet trainon which he collaborated with Leitch.
With future Kraven the hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson is now on the list for the film, pending Gosling’s The Autumn Man will certainly grow as it nears the start of production. Since the film seems to take a looser approach in adapting the source material, it will be interesting to see if it takes a buddy comedy approach to the story and creates a new fun stuntman/actor relationship in a similar vein as Pitt and DiCaprio’s Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton, as well as Blunt’s character in the action, allowing her to show off what she’s learned while working on Edge of tomorrow and Disney’s Jungle Cruise. Only time will tell when The Autumn Man opens in theaters on March 1, 2024.
Source: THR
