‘Lift’ Director F. Gary Gray Talks Franchise Potential for Kevin Hart Movie and Upending the Heist Genre
variety.comCaroline Brew editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers for “Lift,” now streaming on Netflix.
From “The Italian Job” to “The Fate of the Furious,” F. Gary Gray is no stranger to heist movies. When tasked with directing “Lift,” the new Netflix film starring Kevin Hart, Gray knew he needed to add something fresh to the genre. “Lift” follows Hart’s Cyrus Whitaker, who leads an international heist crew that specializes in stealing art.
When Cyrus’ ex-girlfriend, Interpol agent Abby Gladwell (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), catches the team lifting an NFT, she recruits them to lift $500 million in gold off a plane to prevent a terrorist attack. “It’s a beloved genre.
A lot of times, the motivations are different, and I was really satisfied with the reason they wanted to go out and pull off this particular heist,” Gray said.
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