Henry Cavill’s Would-Be John Wick Breakout Is Falling Apart
Henry Cavill and Guy Ritchie’s action thriller In the Grey was quietly yanked from this year’s calendar. Now its producers are delivering a discouraging update, with no new date in sight.
Remember that Henry Cavill/Guy Ritchie action-thriller that was supposed to drop earlier this year, then suddenly vanished? That would be 'In the Grey.' It got yanked off the release calendar with basically no explanation, and now the latest update is... not exactly reassuring.
So, about that release...
Black Bear Pictures bosses Benjamin Kramer and Teddy Schwarzman were asked by Deadline if 'In the Grey' and Ritchie's other movie, 'Wife and Dog,' are actually Black Bear productions. Their answer didn't inspire confidence.
"No comment"
That's the whole quote. After a quiet delay earlier this year, a pointed non-answer like that makes it feel like the movie is stuck in limbo. Fans were primed for this one, too. Cavill has the action chops (see: Mission: Impossible), and pairing him with Ritchie sounded like the start of a proper franchise play. Think the elegant, bruising lane John Wick has lived in the past few years — that was the hope here for Cavill.
What 'In the Grey' is (or was) supposed to be
Details are still thin, but the setup is pretty clear: two extraction specialists have to get a female hostage negotiator out of danger. Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal play the specialists; Eiza Gonzalez plays the negotiator.
At CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas, Ritchie and Cavill described the two leads as operating in that murky space between the law and criminality. Footage shown to attendees (as reported elsewhere) had Gyllenhaal and Gonzalez staking out a cafe while Cavill fed them instructions over an earpiece. The plan: recover money stolen by someone named Salazar. The reality: a shootout, chaos, and Gyllenhaal taking down a helicopter with a rocket launcher. So yeah — full-throttle, bullet-sprayed mayhem.
Where does that leave things now? Between the movie being pulled and producers refusing to clarify who's actually behind it, there's nothing concrete to say about its immediate future.
If you're here for Cavill, here's what else he's got cooking
- Voltron – A live-action take on the 1980s series 'Voltron: Defender of the Universe' from director Rawson Marshall Thurber. Cast includes Henry Cavill, Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora, Daniel Quinn-Toye, and more. Expect five piloted robot lions combining into one giant robot to fight the big bads. Thurber has said the adaptation will "stay true to the heart and the spirit of Voltron" while "introducing an entirely new generation of pilots." Amazon MGM Studios is distributing, so it likely lands on streaming rather than a theatrical-only rollout.
- Enola Holmes 3 – Cavill returns as Sherlock Holmes in Philip Barantini's next mystery installment alongside Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, and Helena Bonham Carter. Plot details are under wraps.
- Highlander – The long-gestating reboot has Cavill set as Connor MacLeod, a Medieval Highlander who discovers he's an immortal warrior. Chad Stahelski is directing, and it's being talked up as one of Cavill's most exciting upcoming projects. The cast has been touted to include Dave Bautista, Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, and more.
- Warhammer 40,000 – Cavill's been attached since 2022 to bring the sprawling tabletop war saga to life. It hasn't visibly leapt forward yet, but the grimdark battles, miniatures, and deep lore give this franchise massive potential.
As for 'In the Grey,' I'd love to say it's just quietly shifting dates. Right now, the silence says otherwise. If it reappears, it has the pieces to be a banger. Until then, Cavill fans won't be starving for alternatives.