Russo brothers serve up spy caper with The Gray Man
Here’s a collection curated by AP entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV and streaming services this week.
MOVIES
• Netflix places one of its biggest bets yet on The Gray Man, a globetrotting action thriller starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. One of the streamer’s most expensive films, The Gray Man is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers who presided over one of the biggest box-office smashes ever (Avengers: Endgame) before they started churning out blockbusters for Netflix. Their Extraction ranks as one of the service’s mostwatched films, and The Gray Man — a spy vs. spy adventure with some comic flare and major franchise ambitions — is likely to follow suit. It debuts Friday.
• Before Billy Porter was a Broadway star and red-carpet doyen, he was a kid in Pittsburgh. In Anything’s Possible, Porter returns to his hometown to make his directorial debut, a trans coming-of-age comedy. The film, which debuts Friday on Amazon Prime Video, stars Eva Reign as a Black transgender girl in a relationship with a boy (Abubakr Ali) that causes a high schoolwide stir. Porter fashioned his film, written by Ximena García Lecuona, as a teen rom-com and a love letter to Pittsburgh.
TELEVISION
• Stephen Curry is the host of the ESPYS sports awards, and more. The NBA championship finals MVP is up for three honours at the ceremony airing Wednesday on ABC. ESPN previously said the ceremony will honour Vitali Klitschko, former heavyweight boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Gretchen Evans will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
• Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were acclaimed actors and a long-married couple. They were also The Last Movie Stars, according to the six-part documentary of that title out on Thursday on HBO Max. The docuseries, directed by actor Ethan Hawke, promises a definitive account of their “dedication to their art, philanthropy and each other.” Transcriptions of interviews with Newman and intimates — conducted for his autobiography that went uncompleted — are voiced by actors including George Clooney and Laura Linney. Also heard from are several of their children and Martin Scorsese, an executive producer for the film.
• The summer thrill ride known as Shark Week is back on Discovery Channel for its 34th year, with stars including tiger sharks with a taste for pork and “monster” hammerheads. The Bahamas’ Exuma Islands and Papua New Guinea are among the new spots visited during the twoweek extravaganza airing from Sunday, July 24, to Saturday, July 30, with Dwayne Johnson as its first emcee. Marine biologists and institutions contribute insights about shark mating and migration, with findings about a new and undescribed species promised. Among the highlights is Island of Walking Sharks, on Wednesday, with a scientist’s investigation of shark evolution.