Free Guy sparked immediate sequel talk from fans and studios alike after becoming the most successful original movie during the pandemic. Now we have an update on the sequel’s status from 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell after he sat down with The Hollywood Reporter.
During the interview, Asbell was asked about the status of the Free Guy sequel to which he replied: “We’re awaiting a script that is days away. It’s a fantastic story.” It would seem that Asbell has seen parts of the script already and is waiting on the final draft to be handed in. He was also asked about what theatrical features the studio had in mind for the next upcoming years. “ We have more Avatar movies coming, we have more Free Guy movies coming. We’re going to be pretty busy.” Asbell said. “Free Guy movies” is the interesting part there, the world of the film does lend itself to expanding beyond Ryan Reynolds's character Guy, but this could also just mean more sequels.
Reynolds and Shawn Levy spoke on sequel plans in an interview with Collider late last month. “We loved Free Guy. We were thrilled that Free Guy was as successful as it was, and particularly as an original movie at a time where few get made and even fewer are hits. So that was gratifying. And if we can crack that sequel, that's something that might be very fun to make together.” It would seem they cracked the sequel and wrote something that everyone was happy with.
Directed by Levy with a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, Free Guy has a wealth of characters and cameos and Easter eggs, contributing to the story of Guy, who discovers he is an NPC (Non-playable character) in an online video game. Free Guy was already in the works when Disney completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox a move that turned out to be quite fortuitous for the film. In addition to Captain America's shield, the merger allowed Levy and Reynolds to use, among other things: a lightsaber, a Hulk fist, and some iconic music.
Despite grossing over $331 million around the world Free Guy had a bumpy start, when the pandemic forced wholesale theater closures in March 2020, Free Guy was pushed to Dec. 11, 2020. Then it was briefly taken off the calendar before landing on May 21, 2021. But that didn’t work either, and Free Guy ultimately shifted to August and the rest is history.