Free Guy is the latest upcoming film from legendary actor Ryan Reynolds, building up his portfolio of laugh-out-loud comedies.
It’s safe to say that Reynolds’ stardom provides a sure-fire way of printing money. His popularity has surged to new heights in the past few years, largely in part to his lead role in the Deadpool films.
And now he’s set to star in another action-comedy film, directed by Shawn Levy. Levy is, perhaps, best known for his work on Netflix’s Stranger Things TV series.
Free Guy also has writers Matt Lieberman (Scoob! and The Addams Family) and Zak Penn (Ready Player One) working on the screenplay. This is Penn’s second time writing about a simulated world, having worked on Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film Ready Player One.
Hopes are high for Free Guy, given that Reynolds had this to say about the film at a panel for New York Comic Con (NYCC): “I haven’t been this fully immersed and engaged in something since Deadpool.”
If that’s not a strong enough endorsement, we don’t know what is…
Free Guy Production
20th Century Studios
Free Guy has had an interesting production process, originally starting development over at 20th Century Fox before the studio was acquired by Disney in 2019.
Despite falling under the wing of the Disney empire, this is very much a Fox film at heart. As such, it will continue to push forward under the new ‘20th Century Studios’ label.
Free Guy Cast
20th Century Studios
Free Guy has gathered quite the talent for its cast, with Reynolds starring as Guy, an unassuming non-player character (NPC) working in Free City.
He is joined by Jodie Comer as Milly, who won an Emmy for her role as Villanelle in BBC’s Killing Eve.
Other famous cast members include Joe Keery as Keys (who played Steve in Stranger Things), Taika Waititi (director of Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit), Lil Rey Howery (Get Out), and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect).
Free Guy Plot
20th Century Studios
The central idea of Free Guy imagines what it would be like if an NPC in a video game decided to go rogue. Think Wreck-It Ralph if Reynolds were the star — and it wasn’t animated, of course.
Reynolds’ character, Guy, is a simple bank worker living in Free City when we first meet him. His day-to-day life consists of being shot at by robbers and run over by cars (ouch).
However, the source code is changed by programmers Keys (Keery) and Milly (Comer), which is then subsequently put into the game by their boss (Waititi).
20th Century Studios
Now able to see the world clearly for the first time, Guy starts to gain autonomy over his life and begins making his own decisions.
Assisted by Molotov Girl (Comer’s in-game persona), Guy will attempt to become the hero of his own narrative and save Free City from destruction at the hands of the game developers.
Free Guy Release Date
20th Century Studios
Free Guy was originally intended to release on 3rd July 2020 before being delayed due to the pandemic (what a surprise). It was moved shortly after to 11th December 2020 until being removed from the release schedule entirely.
But fear not; just one month later, the film received yet another release date: 21st May 2020. For now, this is when we can expect the film to hit cinema screens.
However, do keep in mind that this date could easily change again were cinemas to remain unopened. Equally, Disney could decide that it is more viable to put the film on the Disney+ streaming service. Although this is entirely speculative at this point.
For more from Ryan Reynolds, check out our complete range of Blu-rays and DVDs.
