Free guy

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 Directed by
 Screenplay by
 Story by
 Produced by
* Shawn Levy
* Sarah Schechter
* Greg Berlanti
 Starring
* Jodie Comer
* Lil Rel Howery
* Utkarsh Ambudkar
* Joe Keery
 Cinematography
 Edited by
 Music by
 Production
companies
* 21 Laps Entertainment
* Maximum Effort
* Lit Entertainment Group
 Distributed by
 Release dates
 Running time
 Country
 Language
 Budget
 Box office

***Free Guy*** is a 2021 American action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi. In the film, a man discovers he is a non-player character in a massively multiplayer online game and partners with a real player to find evidence that a gaming company's CEO stole the player's source code.

*Free Guy* premiered at the Piazza Grande section of the 74th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on August 10, 2021. Following a year-long delay as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released theatrically in the United States three days later on August 13 in RealD 3D, IMAX, 4DX and Dolby Cinema formats by 20th Century Studios. It grossed $331.5 million worldwide. The film set several pandemic box office records and received positive reviews from critics for the concept, comparing it to science fiction films and action video games such as *Ready Player One*, *The Truman Show*, *The Matrix*, *Grand Theft Auto*, and *Fortnite*. The film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 94th Academy Awards. A sequel is in development.

## Contents

* 1 Plot
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
	+ 3.1 Development
	+ 3.2 Filming
	+ 3.3 Design and cultural references
* 4 Music
* 5 Marketing
* 6 Release
	+ 6.1 Theatrical
	+ 6.2 Home media
* 7 Reception
	+ 7.1 Box office
	+ 7.2 Critical response
	+ 7.3 Accolades
* 8 Sequel
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Plot

Guy is a non-player character (NPC) in *Free City*, a massively multiplayer online role-playing video game (MMORPG) developed by Soonami Studio. Unaware that the world he lives in is a video game, he works as a bank teller alongside his best friend, the bank's security guard Buddy.

In the real world, Millie Rusk is trying to find evidence that source code she wrote along with her friend Walter "Keys" McKey was stolen by Soonami CEO Antwan Hovachelik. Keys is sympathetic to her efforts, but declines to help because of his job at Soonami. In the game, Millie's avatar of Molotov Girl catches Guy's attention by singing his favorite song "Fantasy" and he begins to deviate from his programming. Taking a pair of sunglasses from a skull-masked player robbing the bank, Guy sees *Free City* through a unique version of the player's interface and tries to catch up with Millie.

Keys and coworker Mouser, believing Guy to be a hacker disguised as an NPC, unsuccessfully try to ban him from the game. Guy meets Millie at the Stash, a well-guarded compound that holds evidence of her source code. Thinking Guy is a novice player, she advises him to level up after their failed break-in. Rapidly progressing through the game by benevolently completing missions, he stands out from other players and becomes a worldwide sensation known as "Blue Shirt Guy".

Guy helps Millie escape from the Stash after her second failed break-in. Millie is bewildered when Guy wants to kiss her as this function is unavailable in the game. Keys reveals to Millie that Guy is truly an NPC and that his self-awareness came from artificial intelligence code containing Millie's personal preferences that Keys had included in *Life Itself*, the original game they developed. This led Guy to develop a romantic interest in Millie while his interactions with other NPCs have led them to develop self-awareness.

Keys agrees to help Millie retrieve their code before *Free City* is wiped from Soonami's servers to make way for *Free City 2*. When Millie tells Guy the truth of his situation, he becomes frustrated with his reality and breaks off their relationship. After talking with Buddy, he realizes that there is something more to their reality.

With Buddy's security guard connections, they enter the Stash again and discover that the player who owns it is a fan of Guy and willing to give them the evidence which Guy gives to Millie. As Guy's continued popularity threatens the launch of *Free City 2*, Antwan orders a reboot which temporarily removes Guy's memories. Millie restores his sentience by kissing him and he recalls the location of the island, the only remaining part of *Life Itself* and proof of Millie and Keys' original code.

As Guy and Millie travel to the island, Antwan has Mouser try to kill them, but his attempts are subverted by Keys who also live-streams the events. Antwan fires Keys, has all the players booted, and sends Dude, a muscular, unfinished version of Guy developed for *Free City 2*, into the game. Initially overwhelmed, Guy puts his sunglasses on Dude, distracting him and allowing Guy to reach the island.

In a last ditch attempt to stop Guy, Antwan begins smashing the game servers with a fire axe, erasing Buddy in the process as well as firing Mouser when he objects. Before he can destroy the final server, Millie offers a deal to abandon her lawsuit, give him the rights to her code, and surrender the profits of the *Free City* franchise to him in exchange for the last server.

Sometime later, the sales for *Free City 2* tanked due to lagged play and bugs in the code. Antwan is "in the hot seat" as he claims to the press while being loaded into his limo by his security staff that he's a "victim". Keys, Mouser, and Millie release *Free Life* using their recovered code including Guy, Dude, and the other *Free City* characters. In the game, Guy reveals to Millie that his code is in fact a love letter to her from Keys. Millie leaves the game and she and Keys share a kiss. Meanwhile, Guy reunites with Buddy and they head off to do whatever they want.

## Cast

Ryan Reynolds portrays Guy and voices Dude

* Ryan Reynolds as Guy / Blue Shirt Guy, a bank teller and non-player character (NPC) in *Free City* who is initially unaware that he is a video game character.
	+ Reynolds also provides the uncredited voice and facial capture for Dude, an incomplete muscular version of Guy that was made for *Free City 2*. Dude is physically portrayed by bodybuilder Aaron W. Reed.
* Jodie Comer as Millie, a player looking for source code to her original game *Life Itself* inside the game In *Free City*, her avatar is Molotov Girl.
* Joe Keery as Keys, an employee of Soonami Studio who previously helped Millie develop her game *Life Itself*.
* Lil Rel Howery as Buddy, a *Free City* bank security guard and Guy's best friend.
* Utkarsh Ambudkar as Mouser, Keys' co-worker at Soonami Studio.
* Taika Waititi as Antwan, the ruthless and narcissistic CEO and head developer of Soonami Studio who stole the source data for *Life Itself* to make *Free City*.
* Jonathan De Azevedo as Jonathan, the personal assistant of Antwan.
* Destiny Claymore as an art nerd at Soonami Studio

In addition, Channing Tatum portrays Revenjamin Buttons, the in-game avatar of gamer Keith (portrayed by Matty Cardarople). Recurring NPCs in *Free City* include Britne Oldford as the barista; Camille Kostek as the bombshell; Mark Lainer as the bank hostage with his hands up; Mike Devine as Officer Johnny, a police officer; and Anabel Graetz as Phyllis, a cat lady.

The film features cameo appearances from gamers and streamers Jacksepticeye, Ninja, Pokimane, DanTDM, and LazarBeam who, in the film, provide commentary on Guy on their respective YouTube and Twitch channels from their own perspectives. Actor Chris Evans and *Good Morning America* host Lara Spencer make cameo appearances as themselves. *Jeopardy!* host Alex Trebek makes a posthumous cameo appearance in his final film role after his death on November 8, 2020.

Other voice cameos in the film include Tina Fey as Keith's vacuuming mom (portrayed by Regina Taufen), Hugh Jackman as a masked avatar in an alley (physically portrayed by Patrick Vincent Curran), Dwayne Johnson as bank robber #2 (physically portrayed by Owen Burke), and John Krasinski as a silhouetted gamer (physically portrayed by Rosario Corso). Charlotte Levy portrays the teen gamer who controlled bank robber #2 and Colette Levy portrayed her foul-mouthed little sister.

## Production

### Development

*Free Guy* director Shawn Levy

In August 2016, Matt Lieberman spent three weeks writing the first draft of the spec script for *Free Guy*. It was sold and entered development at 20th Century Fox prior to its acquisition by Disney. It is one of the first Fox films to continue production under Disney ownership, as well as under the studio's new name of 20th Century Studios. Director Shawn Levy read the script in 2016 but passed on it. Several years later, he was introduced to Ryan Reynolds by Hugh Jackman, a mutual friend, and Levy and Reynolds decided to work on *Free Guy* after rereading it together. Reynolds, who also produced the film, said, "https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/973/361/134/space-artwork-wallpaper-preview.jpgI haven't been this fully immersed and engaged in something since *Deadpool*." Levy had previously been attached to the film *Uncharted*, an adaptation of the video game series of the same name, before he left to make *Free Guy*.

### Filming

Principal photography began in Boston in May 2019, mostly around the city's Financial District. It also took place in the Massachusetts cities of Worcester, Framingham (in the former Framingham Savings Bank building), and Weymouth (at the former Naval Air Station), as well as at Revere Beach.

### Design and cultural references

Levy decided to hire production designer Ethan Tobman over other candidates with more feature film experience after being inspired by the energy he brought to the project. Together they created a visual bible laying out the rules for their video game world. To split the real world from the in-game look they specified colors, lenses, composition and framing, camera movement, and other details. Levy found it liberating to be influenced by other games and films but not required to make a direct adaptation of an existing franchise. Tobman said the film's game-world design drew primary inspiration from games like *SimCity*, *The Sims* and *Red Dead Redemption 2*, while also acknowledging thematic inspiration from *Grand Theft Auto* and *Fortnite*.

The film features several weapons from other video game and film franchises, including a Mega Buster, a lightsaber from the *Star Wars* series, one of *Fortnite*'s pickaxes, the gravity gun from *Half-Life 2*, the portal gun from *Portal*, as well as Captain America's shield and Hulk's fist from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When the film was acquired by Disney, which owns the Marvel and *Star Wars* franchises, the filmmakers asked for permission to use such iconic weapons as a lightsaber and Captain America's shield, and were granted permission to use everything they requested. The cameo by Chris Evans was suggested by Reynolds' wife Blake Lively. Levy contacted Evans, who was already in Boston shooting *Defending Jacob* and asked if he would come by for ten minutes, and he agreed.

## Music

The film's score was composed by Christophe Beck. Portions of the film's score are sampled from the Disney animated short film *Paperman*, which Beck had previously scored. Levy had originally intended to use the song "Your Love" by The Outfield, but Reynolds suggested using "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey instead. Reynolds talked to Carey about getting permission to use it and she allowed them to use the song throughout the film. A cover version of "Fantasy" sung by Jodie Comer was also used in the film.

## Marketing

Promoting the film in 2019 Reynolds and Waititi joked that it was nice to work together for the first time, pretending that they knew nothing about the Green Lantern film. In July 2021, Reynolds released a video on YouTube titled *Deadpool and Korg React*, in which he reprised his role as Wade Wilson/Deadpool from the *X-Men* film series and Waititi reprised his role as Korg from the Marvel Cinematic Universe reacting to the trailer to *Free Guy*.

On August 12, 2021, Dude became a purchasable outfit in the video game *Fortnite* alongside a series of optional quests placed into the game to allow players to unlock an emote with Reynolds's voice.

*Free Guy*'s marketing team created parody posters in the style of other video games, including *Super Mario 64*, *Minecraft*, *Among Us*, *Grand Theft Auto: Vice City*, *Mega Man*, *Street Fighter II*, *Doom*, and *Animal Crossing: New Horizons*.

It's so dark in here. My stomach hurts I feel like I've been drugged or worse assaulted. I don't want to know. I need help.

https://cardozo.yu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-10/jessica\_roth\_2019.jpg

## Release

### Theatrical

*Free Guy* was released in the United States on August 13, 2021 in RealD 3D, IMAX, 4DX and Dolby Cinema formats. It was the first film from Walt Disney Studios during the pandemic released exclusively to theaters for 45 days before releasing on streaming services such as Disney+ (include Premier Access) or Hulu/Disney+ Star.

The film was initially scheduled to be released on July 3, 2020, but it was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then moved to December 11, 2020. In November 2020, the studio removed the film, along with *Death on the Nile*, from its upcoming release schedule until further notice. The next month, the film was rescheduled to May 21, 2021. In March, Ryan Reynolds announced that the film was delayed to its August date.

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

### Home media

*Free Guy* was released on digital on September 28, 2021, 45 days after its theatrical release, and was released on 4K, DVD, and Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on October 12, two months after its theatrical release. It was added to Disney+ and HBO Max in the United States on February 23, 2022.

## Reception

### Box office

As of December 2, 2021, *Free Guy* has grossed $121.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $209.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $331.5 million.

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. 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. The film made $18.5 million in its second weekend, remaining in first. The drop of just 34% marked the smallest second-weekend decline of any wide release of the summer, and the second-best of Reynolds' career. Although it was dethroned by newcomer *Candyman*, the film continued to hold well in its third weekend, falling just 27% to $13.6 million.

### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 286 reviews and an average rating of 7.00/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Combining a clever concept, sweet, self-aware humor, and a charming cast, *Free Guy* is frivolous fun." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based on 51 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

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." Richard Roeper of the *Chicago Sun-Times* lauded both the "perfectly cast" Reynolds and "superb and charming Jodie Comer." Giving the film three out of four stars, he wrote "Thanks in large part to the vibrant, funny, sweet, endearing work by Reynolds and Comer, *Free Guy* delivers." A.A. Dowd of *The A.V. Club* 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." Dowd contrasted the film with *The Truman Show*, saying "Reynolds replicates that slightly unhinged Truman Burbank grin but not the desperation behind it." Nick De Semlyen of Empire was critical of the film, he compared it unfavorably to 2018's *Ready Player One*, and said that although it is "eager to please" it "doesn't really hang together, even as you're watching it.".

### Accolades

 The Comedy Movie Star of 2021
 Academy Awards

## Sequel

On August 14, 2021, following the film's successful first-day box-office gross, Reynolds confirmed that Disney wanted a sequel. In March 2022, Steve Asbell, president of 20th Century Studios, said a script was being submitted shortly and called the sequel "a fantastic story".