Shawn Levy‘s (“Stranger Things,” “Real Steel“) new film “Free Guy” has been winning audiences over. A large feat, given the film, is an original property and one of the few non-blockbuster franchises. However, that soon will change. Actor Ryan Reynolds took to Twitter (See below) to announce that Disney and 20th Century Studios confirmed to the actor/producer that they want “Free Guy 2.” It sounds like Disney is happy with the high-concept action-comedy and see potential in the project they inherited during the merger with 21st Century Fox.
READ MORE: ‘Free Guy:’ Ryan Reynolds Excels In This Heartfelt, Hilarious Action-Comedy [Review]
In “Free Guy,” Blue Shirt Guy (Reynolds) is a harmless video game sprite that becomes sentient and wants to become a hero rather than a background character with the help of a player (Jodie Comer). The film’s concept is a sort of hybrid mix of “Reboot,” “Gamer,” and “Tron,” using the backdrop of modern multiplayer games to tell the story.
The news also signals Disney’s commitment to continue to work with Ryan Reynolds, who is attached to star in “Deadpool 3,” which might begin shooting sometime next year depending on whether they can secure a director and scheduling works out.
Shawn Levy gave the impression during a recent interview that he’d be open to the idea of working with Marvel Studios without saying if he was exactly on their radar to helm “Deadpool 3.”
“Free Guy” sequels would essentially give Disney and Reynolds another franchise under their belt. Disney is also developing other projects based on 20th Century franchises with Dan Trachtenberg‘s “Predator 5,” Wes Ball‘s “Planet of The Apes 4,” Noah Hawley‘s “Alien” series at FX, Jon Watts‘ “Fantastic Four” reboot at Marvel Studios, and more to come.
Ryan Reynolds’ next big project is the Netflix action pic “Red Notice” that is releasing in November. He co-stars with Dwayne Johnson (“Black Adam,” “Jungle Crusie“) and Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman“). After that is likely “Our Name Is Adam,” a time-travel adventure thriller directed, again, by Shawn Levy, that Reynolds recently said (on the Kermode & Mayo podcast, see below) will come out on Netflix in 2022.