The somewhat surprise hit of the summer is Free Guy, a wholly original adventure film from 20th Century Studios that is lighting up the box office in an exclusively theatrical release. The movie has been a passion project for star and producer Ryan Reynolds, who’s been trying to get it made for years and finally got it off the ground when Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) came onboard to direct. But while Disney is now already asking for a Free Guy sequel, fans of this wildly charming and entertaining film will be happy to learn that Reynolds and Levy’s next movie is coming very soon.
Reynolds reteamed with Levy as director right after Free Guy on the Netflix movie The Adam Project, which is an original time travel adventure story about a man who travels back in time to get help from his younger self to confront their late father. Reynolds stars, and Mark Ruffalo plays his character’s father while Jennifer Garner plays his character’s mother.
While speaking with Levy during the press rounds for Free Guy, Collider’s Steve Weintraub asked about The Adam Project, and the This Is Where I Leave You filmmaker revealed the film will be released on Netflix sometime in the first quarter of 2022:
“You're going to see a trailer this year, without question, you're going to see the movie on Netflix in the first quarter of next year. [Ryan and I] are really excited about this one. It is basically what if you could go back in time and befriend your 12-year-old self and your parents whose age you currently are. So it's Ryan Reynolds going back to now 2021/22 meeting his 12-year-old self and Mark Ruffalo and Jen Garner, who are his mom and dad.”
Levy went on to say that while The Adam Project delivers on big budget action adventure, tonally it’s also in line with touching father-son stories like Frequency and Field of Dreams:
“Obviously there's a load of action and really all the things we want from a time travel adventure movie, but it's ultimately very much a descendant of Frequency and Field of Dreams. And the fun of it is very much kind of Back to the Future-inspired, but the heart of it is more Frequency and Field of Dreams. Because imagine if you could go and have empathy for your parents now that you know what you know as an adult. Imagine being able to tell your kid self, ‘Yo buddy, you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay.’ It literally gives me goosebumps because this is a fundamental human journey. And this Jonathan Tropper screenplay taps into that yearning, but in the vessel of just rad big budget action adventure.”
While Free Guy delivers on spectacle, part of what makes the film so charming is the emotional story at its center, and how well Levy taps into the humanity at the heart of that story. He’s no stranger to more emotional fare with films like This Is Where I Leave You, and he’s been handling sci-fi stories from kid POVs as an executive producer and director on Netflix’s Stranger Things, so The Adam Project seems like a swell match of filmmaker and material.
Plus, Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Reynolds as father and son? Who doesn’t want to see that?
Look for more from our interview with Levy on Collider soon. Free Guy is now playing only in theaters.