The doomsayers who think exhibition’s on its last legs as streaming and the Delta Variant close in for the kill can’t be very happy with how well FREE GUY overperformed.
Hollywood handicappers expected Disney/20th’s PG-13 sci-fi action comedy to kick off mildly to $15-19M as moviegoers avoided cinemas due to DV fears. Instead, FG exploded with $28.4M, showing Wall Street analysts & the media are wrong about moviegoing’s future.
The fact is people like going to the movies — as long as there’s something playing they want to see. FG’s original IP fit the bill perfectly for late-summer escapist movie fun. It’s 82% certified fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes with a 95% audience score that means favorable word-of-mouth. Director Shawn Levy (NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM franchise) and stars Ryan Reynolds (DEADPOOL franchise) & Jodie Comer (KILLING EVE series on AMC) — pictured here at New York Comic Con — all have millennial followings that came to see FG.
FG won’t be streaming for 45 days, but it’s good news its audience didn’t stay home waiting for that. What they can wait for now is FG2, which, Reynolds tweeted Saturday, Disney wants to do.