Video game movies based on actual games generally suck, but oddly movies about video games, but not based on one, turn out pretty good (ignore Rick’s opinion, it was good). So I’m semi-excited to hear that Ryan Reynold’s has signed on to play a background character who realizes he’s in a video game in Shawn Levy’s Free Guy. Sounds a bit like Wreck-It Ralph meets every movie that has ever used this plot device.
Reynold’s character will join forces with an avatar to stop his game from being shut down. That makes it sound like it will be an online game since any single-player game technically lasts as long as someone has a disc they’re popping in. No one else has been announced in terms of cast, but it will be interesting to see just what kind of game they’ll be stuck in. Hopefully, it’s a bit more adventurous than The Sims, but not a full out fantasy thing. My fingers are crossed for an open world game like Spider-Man so random superhero shit is just going on in the background.
The screenplay is by Matt Lieberman with Levy directing. This kind of film (action/comedy) is right up Levy’s alley so I’m expecting something at least passable. With Reynolds charm, the whole thing could actually play out pretty well, in fact, as long as they steer away from an overabundance of bad gaming jokes.
Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy Team for Action Comedy ‘Free Guy’ [THR]
