RYAN Reynolds latest film has made $300m globally - only the fifth Hollywood movie to cross that milestone in 2021.
Hollywood news site Deadline reports that the Disney/20th Century Studios’ movie has grossed $108.8m in the US and $193.6m at the international box office.
Free Guy is now the third highest grossing film since cinemas were able to reopen in the US and UK.
I address this on my Instagram page.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 21, 2021
Free Guy is a romantic action comedy set in the real world as well as in a video game.
It co-stars British actress and Killing Eve star Jodie Comer and New Zealand actor and director Taika Waititi.
However, despite the success of Ryan, who is co-chairman of Wrexham AFC along with Rob McElhenney, and Free Guy, fellow actor Gerald Butler recently claimed ignorance.
The Scottish actor is best known for 300 and Olympus Has Fallen (but arguably nowhere near as well-known as Ryan Reynolds).
He made the admission during an interview with UNILAD when he was asked about the thematic similarities between his 2009 movie Gamer and Free Guy.
"I actually don't know what Free Guy is," he said, as actress Copshop co-star Alexis Louder helped him out.
"Oh s--- is it," he said. "I don't watch Ryan Reynolds movies."
What is Free Guy?
Professional video game players including DanTDM, Jacksepticeye, LazarBeam and Pokimane enjoy knowing cameos in Free Guy, which reconfigures hard coding from Tron, Wreck-It Ralph, The Truman Show and Deadpool into an explosive action adventure set in a battle royale-style game akin to Fortnite.
The titular hero, a non-player character (NPC) portrayed with boundless charm by Ryan Reynolds, is blissfully unaware that he exists inside a game or that the “sunglasses people” who repeatedly gate-crash his metropolis are the avatars of players from around the world.
Undated film still handout from Free Guy. Pictured: Jodie Comer as Molotov Girl, Ryan Reynolds as Guy. See PA Feature SHOWBIZ Film Free Guy. Picture credit: PA Photo/©2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved/Alan Markfield.
Shawn Levy’s film is a delirious, whooping delight in those early scenes, which depict Guy walking calmly and cheerfully through the mounting devastation without blinking an eye.
Reynolds savours every blank-faced glance of his loveable innocent, who doesn’t question the infinite loop of his existence until he steals a pair of sunglasses to impress a girl and transform from ones and zeroes to gung-ho hero.
What is Copshop?
Blood flows freely from close-range bullet wounds and a DIY tracheotomy in Joe Carnahan’s action-packed feminist western, which subverts gender stereotypes to pleasing effect with a gun-slinging black female cop caught in the crossfire between men of tattered moral fibre.
Undated film still handout from Copshop. Pictured: Gerard Butler as Bob Viddick. See PA Feature SHOWBIZ Film Butler. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/STXfilms.
Alexis Louder is terrifically entertaining as the quick-thinking rookie, and the only woman at her station, who proudly follows the letter of the law even if it puts her at odds with her hot-headed sergeant and fellow officers.
She holds her own against action movie stalwarts Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo (both listed as producers), who trade verbal and physical blows as a hit man and con artist respectively on a collision course in the sun-scorched Nevada desert.
Carnahan stages prolonged shoot-outs with verve and obligatory slow-motion to fetishise the wilful destruction of property and people.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here