<Li> Anne Openshaw as Ana Ottway </Li> <P> The Grey reunited director Joe Carnahan with producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott (credited as executive producer) as well as actor Liam Neeson, who collaborated on the 2010 action film The A-Team . The film initially imagined a much - younger lead character and Bradley Cooper, who also worked with Carnahan on The A-Team, was cast in the lead role, but he was eventually replaced by Neeson . </P> <P> Filming began in January 2011 and ended in March . The film was shot in forty days . Though set in Alaska, the film was shot in Vancouver and Smithers, British Columbia, with several scenes being shot at the Smithers Regional Airport . According to Empire magazine, in the climactic scene in which Neeson's character pens a letter to his wife, Carnahan urged Neeson to "channel his grief" over the death of his own wife, Natasha Richardson . Carnahan disclosed, in a Q&A session following an early screening at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, that he had shot an alternative ending (that he'd never intended to use) showing Neeson battling the alpha wolf . It was supposed to be included in deleted cuts, however, no extras were included on the Blu - ray . </P> <P> The world premiere of The Grey took place on January 11, 2012, at the Regal Cinemas Theatre in Los Angeles . The film was released nationwide on January 27, 2012 . </P>

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