One of the few bright spots in the theatrical movie business last year was the Ryan Reynolds comedy Free Guy. While the film didn’t blow away the box office in the same way that Spider-Man: No Way Home eventually did, it was a solid hit during a time when people were perhaps less excited about running off to the movie theater. The talk of potential sequels started almost immediately after the movie was released.
So what exactly is going on with a sequel to Free Guy? As it turns out, quite a lot actually. THR recently spoke with 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell and when talking about the future for the studio under Disney, he mentioned Free Guy alongside other major Fox franchise titles, like Avatar and Planet of the Apes, Asbell said…
There are movies like Avatar, Planet of the Apes, and now Free Guy that have well-established theatrical precedence for a wide audience. We have more Avatar movies coming, we have more Free Guy movies coming. We're going to be pretty busy.
So it would seem, 20th Century Studios has some big plans for the future of Free Guy. While this could sound like a studio president simply speaking in hypotheticals, Asbell makes it clear later in the interview that’s not the case here. He’s not just hopeful for more Free Guy, it’s actually happening. There is a script for a sequel being worked on as we speak. Asbell continues…
We're awaiting a script that is days away. It's a fantastic story.
It’s unclear if the script is a first draft or closer to a final one, but there is apparently an idea for a story and script being worked on. This means we could easily see a Free Guy 2 arrive in theatres in the next year or two.
It will be interesting to see just what sort of story a Free Guy 2 actually is. Part of what worked about the comedy of the film was that it was an original idea that took its shots at the popularity of sequels and franchises. Making another Free Guy just ends up making the movie in question part of the problem. There is maybe some meta-humor to be found in that, but at the same time that might be a bit too much.
And Free Guy may end up an even bigger movie before the sequel arrives. The film was recently nominated for an Oscar for its visual effects. And that VFX team is ready to come back to help make a sequel when it happens.
Still, there’s a reason people like franchises in the first place, and so fans of Free Guy will likely be happy to know that Free Guy 2 is much more than simply a thing that might happen. It is a thing that is currently in the works.
