Set inside a chaotic video game, Ryan Reynolds portrays an everyman who must become a hero.
It’s been over a year since it was first scheduled to arrive but Free Guy will finally be fully loaded and released in cinemas this week.
The video game action-comedy was one of the many blockbusters delayed by the pandemic, having been pushed back three times from its initial release date of July 2020.
It seems that Free Guy was worth the wait, however, after unlocking praise from reviewers, including our very own Free Guy review, in which we named Jodie Comer as the standout in “a broadly enjoyable and mostly entertaining film, even if it can’t quite live up to some of its clear influences”.
However, one of the few upsides to the delays has meant extra time for Ryan Reynolds to work on his unconventional advertising campaigns, with the Canadian actor sharing several humorous skits to promote the film.
The most notable was easily an ambitious Marvel cross-over, in which Reynolds and co-star Taika Waititi have made a reaction video to the Free Guy trailer – as Deadpool and Korg no less.
Full of meta jokes, Reynold’s usual quick quips and Waititi’s unique brand of humour, the short proves to be one of the funniest promos ever made.
It’s a good sign for Free Guy then, which sees Reynolds (not as Deadpool this time) star as a non-playable character living in a chaotic open-world video game (think Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto Online) who suddenly finds himself becoming sentient.
Reynolds has previously said Free Guy was his “all time favorite film I’ve ever done”, describing it as “just an absolute fastball of joy” – so we can expect big things.
Read on for everything you need to know about Free Guy.
Free Guy release date UK
Free Guy has been pushed back several times due to the pandemic, but is currently scheduled for release on Friday 13th August 2021, after moving from an earlier date of 21st May 2021.
When that date was announced in March, Ryan Reynolds said in a video, “I know we’ve had a couple of hiccups, but this time it’s 100 per cent locked in.”
Making light of the situation, he then muttered, “unless of course…”
Fingers crossed he was right the first time.
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Life’s too short to be a background character. See #FreeGuy only in theaters August 13. pic.twitter.com/rXB5ooLNcK
— Free Guy (@FreeGuyMovie) June 10, 2021
Free Guy plot: what is it about?
Free Guy takes place in a fictional video game inspired by the likes of Grand Theft Auto Online and Fortnite, where players run rampant across a large map.
Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, an NPC (non-player character) whose life consists of turning up to his job at the bank and spending the day getting shot at by robbers.
Outside of the game, programmers Milly and Keys insert a new code that allows Guy to gain a deeper awareness of his surroundings.
He becomes involved in a race against time to save the video game in which he lives before it gets shut down forever.
Free Guy cast
Reynolds takes the lead role which consists of his usual brand of quippy high-energy humour, well-trodden ground from the likes of Deadpool, Detective Pikachu and Hobbs & Shaw.
Programmer Milly, also known by her in-game username Molotov Girl, is played by Killing Eve star Jodie Comer.
Stranger Things actor Joe Keery portrays her colleague Keys and Jojo Rabbit‘s Taika Waititi stars as their zany boss.
Lil Rey Howery (Get Out), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Brittany Runs a Marathon) and supermodel Camille Kostek fill out the supporting cast.
Popular video game streamers Jacksepticeye, Ninja, Pokimane and LazarBeam will all make cameo appearances, as well as legendary game show host Alex Trebek, who sadly passed away last November.
Free Guy age rating
Ryan Reynolds may be best known for his extremely adult antics as foul-mouthed merc-with-a-mouth Deadpool, but it seems that Free Guy is a more family-friendly affair.
The BBFC has given Free Guy a 12a rating for “moderate violence, sex references, infrequent strong language” so it seems the film will be suitable for almost all the family, whether they are video game characters or not.
The “moderate violence” likely refers to the cartoonish combat of the video game world, much of which is used for comic effect.
Free Guy trailer
The most recent trailer arrived in June 2021, just two months before the film is scheduled to finally arrive in cinemas. It features Reynolds’ character Guy introducing his life as an NPC before he is thrust into a vital mission – and you can see plenty of the star’s famous quippy humour.
The first trailer for the film was revealed all the way back in December 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic derailed plans for the 2020 summer movie season.
A second trailer dropped in October 2020 to promote the film’s planned release that December, which ultimately did not go ahead due to a second surge in COVID-19 cases.
Ryan Reynolds has always been one for creative marketing – and Free Guy is no exception, with Reynolds wheeling out his ever-popular Deadpool character for some truly genius advertisement.
The fourth wall is so broken it’s barely existing in this “reaction” video to Free Guy’s trailer featuring Reynolds and Waititi as their Marvel characters – which is technically Deadpool’s first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe…
#FreeGuy = ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/GXCkkfUhKp
— Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) July 13, 2021
Free Guy is scheduled for release in August 2021. While you’re waiting, check out our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.