Production has officially begun on the upcoming video game movie “Free Guy,” starring Ryan Reynolds. He plays a bank teller who realizes he is actually a background character in a video game called Free City. Somehow he learns that the developers of the game are planning to shut it down, and he embarks on a quest to save it. It sounds pretty great.
Free Guy is directed by Shawn Levy, who directed Night at the Museum and several episodes of Stranger Things. The film also stars Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Lil Rel Howery.
The film is shooting in the Boston area, according to Collider. Comer, who was praised for her performance in Killing Eve, plays a character named “Molotov Girl” who works with Reynolds to save the game.
The story sounds similar in part to The Truman Show, in which Jim Carrey’s character discovers he’s actually the star of a TV show about his own life. Reynolds and Waititi are known for their comedic acting, and we can only imagine what they’ll think up for Free Guy.
Notably, Free Guy is among the first Fox films to shoot following Disney’s acquisition. The movie comes to theatres on July 3, 2020.
This of course is not Reynolds’ first video game movie. He is the voice of Pikachu in the Pokemon movie, Detective Pikachu, which is doing very well at the box office right now.