It’s been a long time coming, but blockbuster action comedy Free Guy is finally slated to hit theaters on August 13th after numerous delays caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it’s been such a wait that Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is releasing next week and star Ryan Reynolds shot the buddy sequel first, and in the time since he’s also completed work on Netflix duo Red Notice and The Adam Project.
Reynolds even poked fun at the constant setbacks in a promo spot released in March, but thankfully it looks as though Free Guy is on track to hit the big screen as scheduled. A broad, video game-inspired family film with plenty of spectacle and a popular star in the title role is surely guaranteed to do solid business at the box office, with all of the trailers and TV spots we’ve seen so far promising a fun time at the movies.
In an interview conducted during production in 2019, Reynolds teased that Free Guy is positively riddled with Easter Eggs, as you’d expect from what’s technically an original concept, albeit one that draws inspiration from the length and breadth of pop culture.
“The movie’s got a lot of, like we said, soft focus background. There’s always something pretty amazing happening. I think the movie, for those that do love Easter Eggs, I don’t think Easter Eggs are a storytelling pillar, but I do think that Easter Eggs, especially in 2019 or in this case 2020 when it comes out, are something that audiences love, and I love and appreciate. So the movie will be riddled with Easter eggs.”
Director Shawn Levy also chimed in, admitting that there were always going to be winks and nods to other properties given the respective back catalogues of himself and Reynolds, who regularly integrate pop culture into their work.
“When you have the producer, writer, star of Deadpool and the producer of Stranger Things, there is a high quotient of cultural literacy as far as we love popular culture. We like alluding to it and contributing to it. So I will just say that there are some pop-ups and some Easter eggs in Free Guy that are as juicy as anything I’ve ever done in anything.”
Interestingly, a full cast listing on the 20th Century Studios website has Dwayne Johnson, John Krasinski and Hugh Jackman among the ensemble, all of whom are known to be close friends with Reynolds, so there might be real-life figures making their presence felt in Free Guy as well as nods to movies, TV shows, franchises and the like.
