Free Guy 2 gets a cautious update from star Ryan Reynolds. Directed by Shawn Levy, Free Guy follows Reynolds as Guy, a bank teller who discovers his artificial existence as a non-playing character in a massive online game, Free City. Guy joins forces with Jodie Comer's Millie/Molotovgirl, the creator of the concept game, Life Itself, who is on a mission to prove that Free City's CEO stole her original source code to create it. Under the threat of being rebooted or replaced by Free City 2, Guy and Millie must collect evidence before it is too late.
Free Guy was a box office hit, and now Ryan Reynolds is giving a cautious update on a potential sequel, per Variety. While Reynolds sees the potential for a Free Guy 2, he admits that not everything needs a sequel, especially when there's nothing wrong with the movie to begin with. Check out his explanation below:
“There is the potential to do a sequel to ‘Free Guy,’ which would be fun... I would love it. But also like, does everything f***ing have to be a sequel? I don’t know. Sometimes it’s OK to just do a movie and have it kick ass and then everyone go home... So you know, there’s a bit of a push and pull there, resisting the urge to just immediately say, ‘Ohh, doing a sequel will validate the first one...No, the first movie validates the first one and then you can leave it at that. So I don’t know, we’re still talking about it.”
Is Reynolds Right About Free Guy 2?
The latest update from Reynolds may come as a surprise. Last year, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell confirmed Free Guy 2's script was near completion. However, director Shawn Levy later revealed that although the sequel is in development, he would only move forward with Free Guy 2 if it could exceed the first movie. He teased both Disney and Fox's interest in the project, but was firm in his belief that the sequel would have to be great so as to not mess with an already good movie.
While some may be disappointed to learn the status of Free Guy 2, Reynolds has a valid point. The first film has a satisfying conclusion with a happy ending. While Free City failed, Millie was able to create an open-world independent game with numerous non-playing characters, who were saved and recreated from the original game. Guy is reunited with his NPC friends, and discovers his own agency, while Millie is reunited with her real-world love interest, Keys (Joe Keery). As Levy and Reynolds argue, Free Guy was received positively by critics and audiences alike, so why mess with an already good thing?
However, there is still plenty of material a Free Guy 2 could explore. While everything seemed to go according to Millie's plan, the business model of Free Life could prove dangerous, as she does not have the resources of a larger corporation. This could mean players have the opportunity to obtain unfair advantages over each other and wreak havoc in Free Life. Despite this, it seems both Levy and Reynolds can agree that the risks of making a Free Guy 2 outweigh the benefits, especially considering the success of the first one. Plus, as Free Guy was released in 2021 as one of the first blockbusters to hit streaming services since the pandemic, the momentum for a sequel may not be the same. While its future is uncertain, there's no denying Free Guy deserved its success.
Source: Variety