Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds, has taken top U.S. box office on its opening weekend with more than $28.4 million, and a world-wide total of more than $51 million.
Of note, Free Guy was released in theaters only. Unlike previous Disney films released this summer (Cruella, Black Widow, and Jungle Cruise), Free Guy was not offered to stream via Disney+ Premier Access.
The film was originally a 20th Century Fox film, but when Disney acquired 20th Century in the Fox purchase, Free Guy ended up on the Disney release calendar.
Free Guy stars Reynolds (who also co-produced the film) as a bank teller who discovers he is actually a non-player character in an open-world video game and decides to become the hero of the story to save his friends from getting deleted by the game’s creator (played by Taika Waititi).
Also starring are Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve“), Lil Rel Howery (“Rel“), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Disney’s “Godmothered“), and Joe Keery (“Stranger Things“).
Here’s a hilarious look at some of the other actors in the film:
On his Twitter, Reynolds posted on Saturday (August 14) that Disney told him they want a sequel to the film.
“IP” is a film term for “Intellectual Property.” He then replied with a movie reference to his Tweet joking: “If it isn’t called, “Albuquerque Boiled Turkey” we’ve failed.”
The initial tweet was also shared by 20th Century Studios and the film’s director Shawn Levy, confirming the sequel news.
Free Guy currently ranks at 86% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with film critics, and 95% via their Audience Score. If you’ve seen it, let me know what you think of it.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer: