Given the continued domino effect that has reduced the rest of 2020’s theatrical release schedule to a barren wasteland, there were fears that Ryan Reynolds’ upcoming action comedy Free Guy could also end up being delayed until next year. Having originally been set for July, the video game-inspired blockbuster was shifted to December, but with the likes of Black Widow and Dune having since fled to 2021, there was every chance that the second of Reynolds’ thirteen upcoming projects could have followed suit as well.
In typical fashion, the 43 year-old poked fun at that very idea before Free Guy dropped a brand new trailer that reaffirmed that the movie would be arriving in theaters in December as planned. It looks like the kind of high concept all-ages blockbuster based on an original pitch that the studios don’t really seem to be interested in making anymore, and there’s every chance that it could still turn out to be a major hit despite the domestic box office continuing to struggle.
Reynolds has already claimed that Free Guy was the greatest experience he’s ever had working on a movie, and now he’s doubled down on that statement by revealing that he believes Shawn Levy’s effects-heavy epic is the best thing he’s starred in.
“I do think it’s the best movie making experience that I’ve ever had easily but also I think the best movie I’ve ever done. You know, it’s the most kind of pertinent to our times, in that sense. I mean, you know, where I feel Deadpool was like a movie that was pertinent to the comic book culture when it came out. This really to me speaks to a broader kind of spectrum of where we are in the world, and not only that, but how we are in the world. So, I think that’s one of the reasons I think it’s my favorite movie. But it’s also, yes, the experience certainly plays into that, but also this incredible cast.”
The Deadpool actor also confirmed that while Free Guy is heavily inspired by open world video games and the massive online following that play them, the appeal of the story is much more universal.
“I always look at like, sports movies are good metaphors. The greatest sports movies ever made are not actually about sports. Field of Dreams, I wouldn’t characterize that as a baseball story. They used baseball as a vehicle to tell a really beautiful story about a son and a father trying to connect. And I think that we’re doing the same thing. We’re using the video game world, the Free City world and video game culture, as a sort of a vehicle to tell this really beautiful and powerful human story.”
Admittedly, it seems unlikely that Free Guy will be able to single-handedly revive the flagging box office, but at least those desperate to return to their local theater know that there’s definitely one major movie that isn’t going to pack up and head to next year.
