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Guy breaks into the Stash again with Buddy's help, but now its owner, recognizing Guy as "blue shirt Guy", gladly hands over the evidence. Guy's continued popularity threatens the launch of ''Free City 2'', and Antwan orders Keys and his new partner Mouser to reboot Guy's programming, but Keys refuses and is fired, and Antwan reboots Guy himself. In-game, Millie finds Guy without any memories of his sentience, but recalling Keys' advice that Guy would need a reminder, she kisses him. Guy's sentience is restored, and he recalls the location of the Island, part of ''Life Itself'' that will not be protected from the pending data wipe and is the only proof of Millie's and Keys's original code. As Guy and Millie persuade the other NPCs in the game that they are more than their programming, Antwan tries to delete Guy and Molotov Girl from the game. Keys interferes to protect them and direct them to the Island, broadcasting the effort to all the now booted ''Free City'' players. Antwan then sends Dude, a bigger and dumber copy of Guy developed for ''Free City 2'', into the game, but Guy is able to befriend him. Antwan takes a final step of destroying the game's servers, but Guy makes it to the Island in time, an event seen by gamers all over the world. Millie coerces Antwan to turn the ''Free City'' code and intellectual property back to her and Keys.
Guy breaks into the Stash again with Buddy's help, but now its owner, recognizing Guy as "blue shirt Guy", gladly hands over the evidence. Guy's continued popularity threatens the launch of ''Free City 2'', and Antwan orders Keys and his new partner Mouser to reboot Guy's programming, but Keys refuses and is fired, and Antwan reboots Guy himself. In-game, Millie finds Guy without any memories of his sentience, but recalling Keys' advice that Guy would need a reminder, she kisses him. Guy's sentience is restored, and he recalls the location of the Island, part of ''Life Itself'' that will not be protected from the pending data wipe and is the only proof of Millie's and Keys's original code. As Guy and Millie persuade the other NPCs in the game that they are more than their programming, Antwan tries to delete Guy and Molotov Girl from the game. Keys interferes to protect them and direct them to the Island, broadcasting the effort to all the now booted ''Free City'' players. Antwan then sends Dude, a bigger and dumber copy of Guy developed for ''Free City 2'', into the game, but Guy is able to befriend him. Antwan takes a final step of destroying the game's servers, but Guy makes it to the Island in time, an event seen by gamers all over the world. Millie coerces Antwan to turn the ''Free City'' code and intellectual property back to her and Keys.


Without the support of Millie's and Keys's code, sales for ''Free City 2'' tank, and Antwan becomes wrapped up in several media controversies. Keys, Mouser, and Millie start a new company with the recovered code to release ''Free Life'', bringing Guy, Buddy, and the other ''Free City'' NPCs into it. ''Free Life'' becomes a [[sleeper hit]], while thanks to Guy, Millie realizes that Keys's code was in fact a love letter to her, and they embrace and kiss.
Without the support of Millie's and Keys's code, sales for ''Free City 2'' tank, and Antwan becomes wrapped up in several media controversies. Keys, Mouser, and Millie start a new company with the recovered code to release ''Free Life'', bringing Guy, Buddy, Dude, and the other ''Free City'' NPCs into it. ''Free Life'' becomes a [[sleeper hit]], while thanks to Guy, Millie realizes that Keys's code was in fact a love letter to her, and they embrace and kiss.


==Cast==
==Cast==

Revision as of 18:42, 17 August 2021

Free Guy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShawn Levy
Screenplay by
Story byMatt Lieberman
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Richmond
Edited byDean Zimmerman[1]
Music byChristophe Beck
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Studios
Release dates
  • August 10, 2021 (2021-08-10) (Locarno Festival)
  • August 13, 2021 (2021-08-13) (United States)
Running time
115 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100–125 million[3]
Box office$50.9 million[4][5]

Free Guy is a 2021 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds (who also produced) as a bank teller who discovers he is actually a non-player character in an open-world video game and decides to become the hero of the story and save his friends from deletion by the game's creator (Taika Waititi). Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Joe Keery also star.

Following a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Free Guy was theatrically released in the United States on August 13, 2021, in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Cinema by 20th Century Studios. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the film's clever concept and compared it favorably as a combination of Ready Player One, The Truman Show, The Matrix, The Lego Movie, and Grand Theft Auto.[6]

Plot

Free City is an open-world video game developed by Soonami Games. Its code is stolen from a game called Life Itself, developed by Walter "Keys" McKey and Millie Rusk, and made into Free City by Soonami's head developer Antwan. Keys has since taken a job at Soonami, while Millie spends time within Free City as her avatar Molotov Girl to find evidence of her and Keys's code and prove they are the rightful owners of the code.

In the game, Guy, a Non-Player Character (NPC), works as a bank teller and spends time with his best friend Buddy, unaware his world is a video game. One day, he encounters Molotov Girl, who is singing the song he says his dream girl will like and begins to deviate from his programming. He takes a pair of sunglasses from a player who tries to rob his bank, through which he sees Free City from the player's head-up display. Guy speaks to Millie, and she thinks he's another player as "blue shirt guy" and tells him to level up to over 100 before she will speak to him again. Guy opts to become a good guy, completing missions within Free City to reach level 100, during which he becomes a worldwide sensation as players watch the progression of "blue shirt Guy".

Millie and Guy meet up again when she breaks into the Stash, another player's well protected area within the game that holds evidence of her source code. Guy helps Millie escape the Stash, and Millie recognizes that Guy is becoming sentient and believes he can help her find their original code within the game world. Keys and Millie realize that Guy's self-awareness came about from code containing Millie's personal preferences that Keys had included in Life Itself, which in turn had led Guy to develop a romantic interest with Millie. When Millie tells Guy the truth of his situation, Guy breaks off their relationship, telling her that he's in love with her. However, after talking with Buddy about the situation, Guy realizes there was something more than love in that relationship and gains full sentience. Guy returns to Millie to agree to help before Free City is wiped from Soonami's servers to make way for Free City 2 in two days.

Guy breaks into the Stash again with Buddy's help, but now its owner, recognizing Guy as "blue shirt Guy", gladly hands over the evidence. Guy's continued popularity threatens the launch of Free City 2, and Antwan orders Keys and his new partner Mouser to reboot Guy's programming, but Keys refuses and is fired, and Antwan reboots Guy himself. In-game, Millie finds Guy without any memories of his sentience, but recalling Keys' advice that Guy would need a reminder, she kisses him. Guy's sentience is restored, and he recalls the location of the Island, part of Life Itself that will not be protected from the pending data wipe and is the only proof of Millie's and Keys's original code. As Guy and Millie persuade the other NPCs in the game that they are more than their programming, Antwan tries to delete Guy and Molotov Girl from the game. Keys interferes to protect them and direct them to the Island, broadcasting the effort to all the now booted Free City players. Antwan then sends Dude, a bigger and dumber copy of Guy developed for Free City 2, into the game, but Guy is able to befriend him. Antwan takes a final step of destroying the game's servers, but Guy makes it to the Island in time, an event seen by gamers all over the world. Millie coerces Antwan to turn the Free City code and intellectual property back to her and Keys.

Without the support of Millie's and Keys's code, sales for Free City 2 tank, and Antwan becomes wrapped up in several media controversies. Keys, Mouser, and Millie start a new company with the recovered code to release Free Life, bringing Guy, Buddy, Dude, and the other Free City NPCs into it. Free Life becomes a sleeper hit, while thanks to Guy, Millie realizes that Keys's code was in fact a love letter to her, and they embrace and kiss.

Cast

The film features cameo appearances from gamers and streamers Jacksepticeye, Ninja, Pokimane, DanTDM, and LazarBeam.[15] Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek makes a posthumous cameo appearance as himself,[16] Channing Tatum appears as Revenjamin Buttons, the in-game avatar of Cardarople's character, while Chris Evans appears as himself. Actors Tina Fey, Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, and John Krasinski all have voice cameos in the film.[17]

Production

Free Guy had been in development at 20th Century Fox prior to its acquisition by Disney, and is one of the first Fox films to continue production under Disney ownership, as well as under the studio's new name 20th Century Studios.[18] Director Shawn Levy originally read the script in 2016 but passed on it. Several years later, Levy was introduced to Ryan Reynolds by Hugh Jackman, a mutual friend, and the pair decided to work on Free Guy after re-reading the script together.[3] Reynolds, who also produced the film, said "I haven't been this fully immersed and engaged in something since Deadpool."[18]

The film started principal photography in Boston in May 2019, including around the city's Financial District.[19][20] Filming also took place in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts,[21] and Framingham, Massachusetts, in the former Framingham Savings Bank building,[22] and at the former Naval Air Station in South Weymouth, Massachusetts.[23]

While the game world was found to compare to those of Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite, production designer Ethan Tobman said that the design of the world drew more inspiration from games like SimCity and Red Dead Redemption 2.[24] Throughout the film, several weapons pulled from other video game and film franchises are used, including a Mega Buster, a lightsaber, one of Fortnite's pickaxes, the gravity gun from Half-Life 2, the portal gun from Portal, Captain America's shield, and Hulk's fists. According to Tobman, some of these weapons came about after the film was acquired by Disney, who already owned the Marvel franchises, with the company being supportive of their inclusion. This segment also was meant to allude to Reynolds' Deadpool character, who was already part of the Marvel universe.[24]

Marketing

In July 2021, Reynolds released a video on YouTube titled Deadpool and Korg React, which features Reynolds reprising his role as Wade Wilson / Deadpool from the X-Men film series and Waititi reprising his role as Korg from the Marvel Cinematic Universe reacting to the trailer to Free Guy.[25]

On August 12, 2021, the character Dude became an outfit in the video game Fortnite.[26]

Release

Free Guy was released in the United States on August 13, 2021,[27] with RealD 3D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema formats. It also becomes the first Disney-brand film has a 45-day exclusive theatrical release, instead of being released both in theaters and steaming services like Disney+ Premier Access or Hulu/Disney+ Star.[28]

The film was initially scheduled to be released July 3, 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29][30][31] It was then moved to December 11, 2020.[32][33] In November 2020, the studio removed the film, along with Death on the Nile, from its upcoming release schedule until further notice.[34][35] The next month, the film was rescheduled to May 21, 2021.[36] In March, Ryan Reynolds announced that the film was delayed to its August date.[37]

The film premiered at the Piazza Grande section of the 74th Locarno Film Festival in August 2021.[38]

Reception

Box office

As of August 15, 2021, Free Guy has grossed $28.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $22.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $50.9 million.[4][5]

In the United States and Canada, Free Guy was released alongside Respect and Don't Breathe 2, and was initially projected to gross $15–18 million from 4,165 theaters in its opening weekend.[39] However, after making $10.5 million on its first day (including $2.2 million from Thursday night previews), estimates were raised to $26 million. It went on to debut to $28.4 million, topping the box office.[6]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 207 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Combining a clever concept, sweet, self-aware humor, and a charming cast, Free Guy is frivolous fun."[40] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[6]

Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge called the film an "at-times unwieldy mashup of multiple-reality blockbusters like The Matrix and The Lego Movie," and said that, "Free Guy is a lot of fun, despite the fact that Levy and the screenwriters seem to be changing the rules as they go."[42] Reviewing for The A.V. Club, A.A. Dowd gave the film a "C+" grade and said, "For all its casual mayhem, Free Guy turns out to be a rather cuddly crowdpleaser, a high-concept blockbuster trifle with bubblegum ice cream clogging its circuits."[43]

Sequel

On August 14, 2021, following the film's successful first day box office gross, Reynolds confirmed that Disney wanted a sequel.[44]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dean Zimmerman, ACE - The Rough Cut". The Rough Cut. August 19, 2019. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  2. ^ "Free Guy". Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "The Low-Key Hustle of 'Free Guy' Filmmaker Shawn Levy: 'I'm Willing to Outwork Anybody'". The Hollywood Reporter. August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Free Guy (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Free Guy (2021)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 15, 2021). "How Ryan Reynolds & Shawn Levy's 'Free Guy' Triumphed At The Weekend Pandemic B.O. With A Great $28M+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Ryan Reynolds Fights a Super Buff Version of Himself in Hilarious Free Guy Scene". PEOPLE.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  8. ^ Parker, Ryan; Kit, Borys (December 19, 2018). "'Killing Eve' Star Jodie Comer Joins Ryan Reynolds in 'Free Guy' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  9. ^ "Game on! Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer star in first 'Free Guy' trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Vlessing, Etan (March 28, 2019). "Taika Waititi, Utkarsh Ambudkar Join Fox's Action-Comedy 'Free Guy'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Weiss, Josh (November 26, 2019). "Free Guy Composer Says Ryan Reynolds Comedy Will Be Grand Theft Auto Meets The Truman Show". Syfy. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  12. ^ Riefe, Jordan. "Camille Kostek On Modeling, Gronk, and Co-Starring with Ryan Reynolds in 'Free Guy'". Maxim. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  13. ^ "'Free Guy' review: Ryan Reynolds leads an enjoyable romp through Boston". www.boston.com. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  14. ^ https://screenrant.com/free-guy-cast-character-cameos-guide-actors/
  15. ^ McMillan, Grahame (October 3, 2019). "First Look at Ryan Reynolds' 'Free Guy' Wows New York Comic Con". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  16. ^ Ivie, Devon (October 5, 2020). "Free Guy Trailer: Wreck-It Ryan Reynolds". Vulture. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  17. ^ "Free Guy Cameos: Which Celebrities Appear in Ryan Reynolds' Video Game Movie?". IGN. August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Romano, Nick; Aquilina, Tyler (October 3, 2019). "Ryan Reynolds turns videogame hero (or not) in first Free Guy footage and poster". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  19. ^ Brown, Lillian (May 14, 2019). "Ryan Reynolds strikes a pose with 'Free Guy' cast as filming ramps up in Boston". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  20. ^ Slane, Kevin (May 17, 2019). "Ryan Reynolds movie 'Free Guy' sets up to film in Boston". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  21. ^ "Ryan Reynolds movie 'Free Guy' transforms downtown Worcester into car chase scene". MassLive. May 22, 2019. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  22. ^ Haddadin, Jim (May 7, 2019). "Framingham bank to be featured in Hollywood movie 'Free Guy'". The MetroWest Daily News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  23. ^ Trufant, Jessica (May 21, 2019). "Life goes on at Union Point after developer's ouster". The Patriot Ledger. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  24. ^ a b Egan, Toussaint (August 14, 2021). "Free Guy's IP-bonanza ending was inspired by the entire crew". Polygon. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  25. ^ Tapp, Tom (July 13, 2021). "Deadpool And Korg React To Trailer For Ryan Reynolds And Taika Waititi's New Movie, 'Free Guy'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  26. ^ "FREE GUY QUESTS IN FORTNITE". Epic Games. August 12, 2021.
  27. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (March 23, 2021). "'Black Widow,' 'Cruella' to Debut on Disney Plus and in Theaters as Disney Shifts Dates for Seven Films". Variety. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  28. ^ Couch, Aaron; McClintock, Pamela (May 13, 2021). "'Free Guy' and 'Shang-Chi' to Get Exclusive Theatrical Releases". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  29. ^ Welk, Brian (April 3, 2020). "'Black Widow' Moves to November as Other MCU Films Shift Back to 2021, 2022". The Wrap. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  30. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (December 7, 2019). "Fox Releases First Trailer For 'Free Guy'; Ryan Reynolds Refers To Unlikely Superhero Origin Story As Modern-Day 'Back To The Future' – CCXP". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  31. ^ Kit, Borys (September 28, 2018). "Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy Team for Action Comedy 'Free Guy'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  32. ^ Bullard, Benjamin (April 5, 2020). "Ryan Reynolds reveals Free Guy December new release date". SyFy. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  33. ^ Gemmill, Allie (October 4, 2020). "New 'Free Guy' Trailer Teaser Hypes Ryan Reynolds' Comedy That You'll (Probably) See in 2020". Collider. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  34. ^ McClintock, Pamela (November 5, 2020). "'Free Guy,' 'Death on the Nile' Sail Out of 2020 Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Crisis". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  35. ^ "Ryan Reynolds' 'Free Guy' movie won't hit theaters in December". Engadget. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  36. ^ Couch, Adam (December 11, 2020). "'Free Guy,' 'Thor 4' and 'Lightyear' Get Release Dates Amid New Disney Plan". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  37. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 23, 2021). "Disney Shifts 'Black Widow' & 'Cruella' To Day & Date Release In Theaters And Disney+, Jarring Summer Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 23, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  38. ^ Grater, Tom (July 1, 2021). "Locarno Unveils 2021 Line-Up: Abel Ferrara's Ethan Hawke-Starrer 'Zeros And Ones' To World Premiere". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  39. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (August 11, 2021). "Disney's 'Free Guy' Is Playing Only in Theaters. Can That Help Ticket Sales?". Variety. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  40. ^ "Free Guy (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  41. ^ "Free Guy Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 13, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ Debruge, Peter (August 5, 2021). "'Free Guy' Review: Ryan Reynolds Levels Up in This Meta-Video Game Rom-Com". Variety. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  43. ^ Dowd, A.A. (August 5, 2021). "Free Guy review: Ryan Reynolds gets his own Truman Show". The A. V. Club. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; August 6, 2021 suggested (help)
  44. ^ Reynolds, Ryan. "Aaaannnnd after 3 years messaging #FreeGuy as an original IP movie, Disney confirmed today they officially want a sequel. Woo hoo!! #irony". Twitter. Retrieved August 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

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