Long-Delayed Ryan Reynolds Movie Finally Releasing, Watch A New Trailer

Check out the awesome new trailer for the upcoming Ryan Reynolds movie.

By Jason Collins | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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We finally have a brand-new trailer for the long-delayed, highly anticipated action-comedy, Free Guy, just two months ahead of the film’s long-awaited debut. The newly released video features a ton of new action-packed footage of Ryan Reynolds’ titular character Guy as he tries to save his fictional world from getting deleted, referencing some of the gaming world’s most memorable features. But will those features make any sense to a non-gaming audience, and is the new release date final?

Watch the Free Guy trailer with Ryan Reynolds below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyU8S1mC54A&ab_channel=GiantFreakinRobotGiantFreakinRobot

The new trailer, though shorter than the previously released one, is far more action-condensed and much more gaming-oriented, as it resembles a cinematic concoction made of several video games. Imagine if Grand Theft Auto and Need For Speed had a child, and that child dated Fortnite‘s and Super Mario‘s kid. Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy would be a product of that relationship, the action-packed cinematic release that employs the gaming world’s most prominent features for our entertainment. And it does so incredibly well if the trailer does the movie justice. 

Free Guy follows its titular hero, an arbitrary NPC (non-player character) bank teller named Guy (Ryan Reynolds), in an open-world video game as he decides to become the hero of his own story–one he rewrites himself. His realization and self-actualization are further aided by Milly, portrayed by Jodie Comer, who helps Guy realize that being the game’s protagonist is far better than being the game’s NPC. After diverging from his character’s description, on his quest to become the game’s protagonist, Guy is faced with Taika Waititi‘s character, who also happens to run the entire game Guy originates from. And needless to say, he’s not happy with Guy’s falling out of line.

The film’s narrative is highly influenced and centered around video gaming, following Guy’s explosion-filled and action-packed transition from a cog in the machine, to the master of his own programming. Though video game mechanics may seem unreasonable to the non-gaming audience, it’s worth noting that the gaming aspect of the movie is just a “narrative vehicle” used to tell an incredible and powerful human story, much like the Field of Dreams movie’s baseball-centered narrative did.

Ryan Reynolds’ character is aided by a fantastic cast consisting of Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi. Free Guy will also feature cameo appearances by the gaming world’s most prominent gamers, including Imane “Pokimane” Anys, Lannan “LazerBeam” Eacott, Sean Williams “Jackseptieye” McLoughlin, and other popular gamers and streamers, all set to appear along with Reynolds’ Guy in theaters on August 13, 2021.

Free Guy was initially set to release in July of 2020 but got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, like many other cinematic releases. It was further rescheduled to December 11, 2020, only to face another postponement to May 21, 2021, and finally to August 13, 2021, competing with Aretha Franklin’s biopic Respect, Sony’s Don’t Breathe 2, and Apple’s CODA. The movie is set for a 45-day exclusive theatrical release before it becomes available to streaming services, most likely on Hulu or Disney+, now that Disney owns 20th Century Studios.