Credit: Inside the MagicThe chances of the Ryan Reynolds hit comedy Free Guy (2021) getting a sequel are practically nothing, and Barbie is to blame.
Free Guy starred Ryan Reynolds as Guy, an ordinary man who becomes aware that he is actually a non-player character (or NPC) living in a vast video game. Alongside a human player (Jodie Comer) and various celebrity pal cameos, he becomes self-actualized and basically is able to accept his nature and grow from there.
Free Guy (which was directed by frequent Reynolds collaborator Shawn Levy) was a great success at the box office, grossing a solid $331 million worldwide.
Related: Ryan Reynolds Just Made More than $1 Billion and Not from Deadpool
However, even Ryan Reynolds has to acknowledge the overwhelming dominance of Barbie in theaters, which grossed over a billion dollars more than Free Guy. The movie involves Margot Robbie as a fictional character who realizes her own artificiality and has to interact with the “real” world in order to find some sense of self.
While the Margot Robbie movie was released a full two years after Free Guy, even so, Barbie has managed to crush sequel plans.
Ryan Reynolds, Margot Robbie, and ‘Barbie’
In a recent interview at the TIFF media studio at the Cinema Center at MARBL, director Shawn Levy revealed that any developing plans for a sequel had basically been shut down by similarities to the Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie movie.
Specifically, the director said (via Collider), “The truth is that you now have Barbie that has obviously left a mark about a character in a fictional world who comes to self-awareness. So, we’re only gonna make Free Guy 2 if it’s different than the first movie and if it’s different from other movies.”
It seems that the phenomenal success of Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig has been enough to shut down any concrete plans for a Ryan Reynolds sequel.
Related: Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu Explain Their ‘Barbie’ Beach-Off Beef
Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, and ‘Deadpool 3’
Of course, Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy have other plans that are not shut down by Barbie. The two are making their debuts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Deadpool 3, one of the most breathlessly anticipated MCU movies in years.
Deadpool 3 will team up Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson with Hugh Jackman, reprising his role as the X-Men member Wolverine just six years after retiring with Logan (2017).
However, it seems that Reynolds is an extraordinarily persuasive person, and rumors have swirled that any number of famous faces may show up in the movie, including returning mutant actors like Ian McKellen, Dafne Keen, and Liev Schrieber, as well as new ones like Taylor Swift.
Would you see Free Guy 2, or has Barbie thoroughly covered the subject matter? Should Barbie show up in Deadpool 3? Let us know in the comments below!