- "I know this world is just a game, but this place, these people, that's all I have. So I'm not gonna be the good guy. I'm gonna be a great guy."
- ―Guy to Molotov Girl[src]
Free Guy is a 2021 science fiction action comedy film based on gaming. The film is directed by Shawn Levy, written by Mark Lieberman and Zak Penn, and stars Ryan Reynolds as Guy, Jodie Comer as Millie/Molotov Girl, Lil Rel Howery as Buddy, Utkarsh Ambudkar as Mouser, Joe Keery as Keys and Taika Waititi as Antwan.
The film's release date is set on August 13, 2021, formerly supposed to be released on July 3, 2020, December 11, 2020 and May 21, 2021.
Synopsis[]
A bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story… one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way… before it is too late.[1]
Plot[]
Free City is an open-world video game developed by Soonami Games. Its code was based on a game called Free Life developed by Walter "Keys" McKey which he sold to Soonami in exchange for becoming its lead developer. Keys has since come to regret this decision, as Soonami's boss, Antwan, has since turned Free City into a generic cash-grab franchise, and now plans to replace it with its sequel Free City 2 as a means to developing fully sentient artificial intelligence. Keys' former partner, Millie Rusk, spends time within Free City as her avatar Molotov Girl to find evidence of Keys' code and prove Keys the rightful owner of the code.
In the game, Guy, a non-player character, works as a bank teller and spends time with his best friend Buddy, unaware his world is a video game. One day, he discovers a pair of sunglasses, worn by player avatars, that show him Free City through a heads-up display as a player would see. When Guy later encounters Molotov Girl, his programming further deviates. Millie recognizes that Guy is becoming sentient, and believes he can help her find Keys' code within the game world. As Guy completes missions within Free City under Millie's guidance to locate the source code, he becomes a worldwide sensation as players tune in to watch his heroic deeds.
Keys and Millie realize that Guy's self-awareness came about from code containing Millie's personal preferences that Keys had included in Free Life, 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. 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's continued popularity threatens the launch of Free City 2, and Antwan orders Keys and his new partner Mouser to reboot Guy's programming. When Millie next encounters him in-game, she finds him unaware of any of his prior sentience, but when she gives him a kiss, his backup data is restored. Guy is able to recall evidence of Keys' code from his apartment, as well as the location of the Island, part of Free Life that will be protected from the pending data wipe. As Guy and Millie convince the other NPCs in the game to migrate to the Island, Antwan tries to delete Guy and Molotov Girl from the game. Keys interferes to protect them and direct them to the Island, leading Antwan to fire him. 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 trying to destroy the game's servers, but Guy and the other NPCs make it to the Island in time, an event seen by gamers all over the world. Millie convinces Antwan to turn the Free City code and intellectual property back to Keys.
Without the support of Keys' 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 Millie realizes that Keys' code was in part a love letter to her.
Cast[]
- Ryan Reynolds as Guy
- Jodie Comer as Millie/Molotov Girl
- Lil Rel Howery as Buddy
- Utkarsh Ambudkar as Mouser
- Joe Keery as Keys
- Taika Waititi as Antwan
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. 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. Reynolds, who also produced the film, said "I haven't been this fully immersed and engaged in something since Deadpool."[2]
The film started principal photography in Boston in May 2019, including around the city's Financial District. Filming also took place in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, and Framingham, Massachusetts, in the former Framingham Bank building, and at the former Naval Air Station in South Weymouth, Massachusetts.[2]
Videos[]
Trailers[]
Other[]
Trivia[]
- Other roles that Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi have played (Deadpool and Korg) have reacted to a trailer of Free Guy, as seen in the YouTube video "Deadpool and Korg React", which was uploaded by Ryan Reynolds on his YouTube channel.[3]
- Free Guy features cameos from famous content creators such as Jacksepticeye, Ninja, Pokimane, DanTDM, and LazarBeam.[2]
- It also features Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Tina Fey, Chris Evans and John Krasinski as cameos.
- Jacksepticeye was credited as the voice of Q*Bert, but this character was not featured in the film.
- The
- The film was initially releasing on July 3rd, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was delayed thrice (three times).[2]
- The dates the film was pushed back to were December 11, 2020 and May 21, 2021, and, the final date, August 13, 2021.
- Free Guy has a set of eight posters that reference popular classic and modern video games.[4][5]
- These include Super Mario 64, Street Fighter, DOOM, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Minecraft, Among Us, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mega Man.
- After the wild success from Free Guy, Disney may plan a potential sequel. This was announced on Ryan Reynolds' Twitter account.[6]
References[]
- ↑ Free Guy on 20th Century Studios
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Free Guy on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- ↑ "Deadpool and Korg React"
- ↑ Free Guy on Twitter: "Check out these epic #FreeGuy posters inspired by iconic video game covers. 🎮💥 Get tickets now to see #FreeGuy in theaters this Friday! bit.ly/FreeGuyTix
1/2 - ↑ Free Guy on Twitter: "2/2"
- ↑ Ryan Reynolds on Twitter
