Development

In July 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that a film based on the 1980s series The Fall Guy was in development. DreamWorks Pictures had teamed up with producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald on the project,^[10] and Martin Campbell was in talks to direct the film.^[11] DreamWorks, through the Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone Pictures distribution label, was to release the film in North America, Latin America, Russia, Australia, and Asia, while Mister Smith Entertainment would have handled sales in the remaining territories. In September 2013, Dwayne Johnson was in negotiations to play the title role and McG was in talks to direct.^[12]

In September 2020, Ryan Gosling, director David Leitch, and writer Drew Pearce were said to be working on an "unnamed stuntman film" that had been picked up by Universal Pictures.^[13] In May 2022, it was confirmed this project was a film adaptation of The Fall Guy. The film is produced by Universal with Leitch's 87North Productions and Gosling's Entertainment 360, with Leitch and Kelly McCormick producing alongside Gosling and Guymon Casady. Pearce is also an executive producer, as are Geoff Shaevitz and original series creator Glen A. Larson.^[14]

Variety reported that the Australian Government and the New South Wales state authorities added funds to the production up to A$30 million and A$14.5 million respectively, with Paul Fletcher, Australia's Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, estimating a boom to the local economy, over 1,000 Australian cast and crew, and more than 3,015 Australian film extras.^[15][16]

Casting

In September 2022, Emily Blunt was added to the cast and Gosling and his family arrived in Australia to begin filming.^[17] In October 2022, it was revealed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who previously worked with Leitch on Bullet Train (2022), and Stephanie Hsu would join the cast.^[18][7] In November 2022, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham and Teresa Palmer joined the cast.^[4][6][8]

Filming

The city of Sydney at night, where The Fall Guy was filmed.

Principal photography began in October 2022 in Sydney, Australia,^[19] at the Disney Studios Australia in Moore Park, Sydney.^[20][21] On October 20, 2022, images of the production filming night shoots in the Goulburn Street parking lot in Sydney appeared in the media with Gosling sporting long hair and a beard.^[22][23] On January 22, 2023, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed for several daytime hours for filming of scenes involving Ryan Gosling.^[24][25] Principal photography was completed on March 2, 2023.

Music

The Fall Guy's score was composed by Dominic Lewis, who previously scored Bullet Train.^[26] Blake Shelton covered "Unknown Stuntman", the theme to the series originally performed by Lee Majors.^[5]