Last year, the world was swept up in the neon pink fever dream that was Barbenheimer – AKA, the unlikely double bill spurred by Barbie and Oppenheimer sharing a release date.
This year, Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt and Barbie star Ryan Gosling have joined forces for new action-comedy The Fall Guy – coincidentally filmed before Barbenheimer became a phenomenon – and, when we meet the duo in London to talk about the new film, Blunt shares what she thinks The Fall Guy and Barbenheimer have in common.
"What both of those films did was just to offer people an escape into a new world that seemed really unique," she tells us. "And that was sort of indicative of what we both then realized audiences were looking for, which was that escapism, and that confrontation, or escapism, or romanticism, or humour, or something as challenging as Oppenheimer: people wanted that and ran to that. And so it was one of the most moving summers for me in a big way, not only just so proud to be a part of a film that was doing that, but then [it] kind of persuades you to put your feet to the fire more, and that this is the way to go with making films, is just to keep striving for something unique.
"And everyone on Fall Guy, that's what we tried to do every day, was just try to make something to make people as happy as possible and as entertained as possible," she continues. "And I think that world that we created of things that were off the cuff, chaotic, spontaneous, is maybe what people will like about Fall Guy, I hope."
The Fall Guy sees Gosling play Colt Seavers, a stunt performer who retires from the business after a catastrophic injury. He's then called back to work on a new movie directed by his ex, Jody Moreno (Blunt), because the movie's star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has mysteriously vanished – and, without him, the movie can't be completed.
David Leitch directs, with the rest of the cast including Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, and Stephanie Hsu.
The Fall Guy will be released in cinemas across UK and Ireland from May 2, and in US theaters from May 3.
For more, check out our guide to this year's most exciting upcoming movie release dates to fill out your watchlist.
