After being the most successful original film during the epidemic, Free Guy spurred instant sequel discussion from fans and companies alike. After speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell gave us an update on the sequel’s status.
“We’re awaiting a script that is days away,” Asbell said during the interview when questioned about the status of the Free Guy sequel. It’s an amazing story.” Asbell appears to have previously viewed portions of the script and is waiting for the final manuscript to be submitted. He was also questioned about the studio’s plans for theatrical movies in the coming years. “We’re going to make more Avatar movies, and we’re going to make more Free Guy movies.” We’ll have a lot on our plates.” Asbell explained. The section about “Free Guy movies” is intriguing; the setting of the film lends itself to expanding beyond Ryan Reynolds’ character Guy, but this could simply mean more sequels.
In a recent interview with Collider, Reynolds and Shawn Levy discussed their ambitions for a sequel. “We were huge fans of Free Guy. We were ecstatic that Free Guy was such a sensation, especially as an original film at a time when few are made and even fewer are successful. So that was a pleasant surprise. And if we can crack that sequel, that could be a lot of fun to work on together.” It appears like they figured out the sequel and came up with something that everyone liked.
Free Guy, directed by Levy and written by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, features a plethora of characters, cameos, and Easter eggs, all of which contribute to Guy’s discovery that he is an NPC (non-playable character) in an online computer game. When Disney completed its takeover of 21st Century Fox, Free Guy was already in the works, which turned out to be pretty fortunate for the film. The combination gave Levy and Reynolds access to a lightsaber, a Hulk fist, and some iconic music, in addition to Captain America’s shield.
Despite generating over $331 million worldwide, Free Guy had a rocky start, with the pandemic forcing theatre closures in March 2020, and the release date was moved back to December 11, 2020. It was then momentarily removed off the calendar until reappearing on May 21, 2021. But that didn’t work, so Free Guy was shifted to August, and the rest is history.
