History Trivia / FreeGuy

* ActorAllusion:
** Millie's Free City username of "[=MolotovGirl=]" nods to Creator/JodieComer's role as a Russian assassin in ''Series/KillingEve''.
** Matty Cardarople's character is listed in the credits as "Keith", the same name as the character he played in ''Series/StrangerThings''.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/RyanReynolds, best known for playing cynical {{Deadpan Snarker}}s like Film/{{Deadpool}} and [[Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu Detective Pikachu]], plays the idealistic and naive Guy.

* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/RyanReynolds says that the concept for this film was the first to excite him as much as ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'''s did, and he absolutely had to make sure he'd star in it.

** The British Creator/JodieComer plays the American Millie. Although Comer uses an English accent for Millie's MolotovGirl persona, it is not her natural Liverpudlian accent.

** MolotovGirl is programmed with a British accent (which Guy at one point mistakes for Australian), while her real-world player, Millie, is actually American. Her actress, Jodie Comer, really is British.
** The first person to comment on MolotovGirl's fake accent is voiced by Creator/HughJackman, who is also putting on a fake accent for his cameo here.

** The British Creator/JodieComer plays the American Millie. Although Comer uses an English accent for Millie's Molotov Girl persona, it is not her natural Liverpudlian accent.

** Molotov Girl is programmed with a British accent (which Guy at one point mistakes for Australian), while her real-world player, Millie, is actually American. Her actress, Jodie Comer, really is British.
** The first person to comment on Molotov Girl's fake accent is voiced by Creator/HughJackman, who is also putting on a fake accent for his cameo here.

* DuelingMovies: With Anime/{{Belle|2021}}, another film that came out around the same time revolving around a virtual world with the protagonist choosing to spread kindness even [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential in the]] WretchedHive [[InternetJerk that is the Internet]]. ''Free Guy'' was a bigger financial success due to being a [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios major]] Hollywood [[Creator/{{Disney}} studio]] release, while ''Belle'' was an international film given a [[LeFilmArtistique limited arthouse release]] by [[Creator/GKids an indie film distributor]]. Meanwhile, ''Belle'' was more well-received by both critics and audiences.

** Millie's avatar name of "[=MolotovGirl=]" nods to Creator/JodieComer's role as a Russian assassin in ''Series/KillingEve''.

* ActingForTwo: Creator/RyanReynolds portrays both Guy, and the heavily muscle-bound "anti-Guy" NPC, Dude.
* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/RyanReynolds says that the concept for this film was the first to excite him as much as ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'''s did and he absolutely had to make sure he'd star in it.

* ChannelHop: The film began development at Fox but finished at Disney after the Disney-Fox acquisition. The first trailer credits it to Creator/{{Disney}}, while the second (as well as the final film) is under the Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios name.

** The Australian Creator/HughJackman uses an American accent for his cameo as a masked player.

** Molotov Girl is programmed with a British accent (which Guy at one point mistakes for Australian) while her real-world player, Millie, is actually American. Her actress, Jodie Comer, really is British.

* MeaningfulReleaseDate: Released the same day as the final episode of Creator/AlexTrebek’s last season of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', though Trebek’s final episodes had aired some months earlier.

** Elements of the car chase that appear in trailers are cut from the film, including Guy telling Millie he's never driven a car before and two players hit by a truck while rooting for Guy.
** In the first trailer there's a clip of Antwan lounging in the chair at his desk while rapping.

* RealitySubtext: A major plot point revolves around Antwan refusing to delay ''Free City 2'', not caring that many blatant flaws and bugs have yet to be fixed only two days before the planned release date. [[spoiler:This ultimately causes its sales to plummet and makes Antwan a laughingstock upon its release]]. The film’s numerous delays because of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic caused it to be released after ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', a heavily hyped game with a similar premise to the film’s ''Free City'', which was also ChristmasRushed despite the developers’ insistence that the game wouldn’t be ready for its planned deadline, resulting in an infamously buggy and unfinished launch in December 2020.
** Even more RealitySubtext comes into play, as Shawn Levy stated that he based Antwan loosely on a studio executive he pitched the film to. He asked Levy if the film would be based on a book, but he couldn't grasp that the film would not based on any pre-existing work and that it was an original piece. Antwan's "Kentucky Fried Chicken, Part 2"/"Why Do an Original When I Can Do a Sequel?" speech to Keys was inspired by this executive.
* ReleaseDateChange: One of many films with a significant move as a result of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, this move was from July 3, 2020 to December 11. Creator/RyanReynolds released an unfinished clip from the film and had a fingers crossed emoji placed next to the new date. The film was then delayed to May 21, 2021, then again to August 13, which was its final date. The film is part of the last batch of Fox-greenlit projects that Disney is contractually obligated to release in theaters, hence it couldn't be dumped on streaming services.[[note]]Ironically, months later the film would be released on ''both'' the Creator/DisneyPlus and Creator/HBOMax streaming services on the same day, as part of a deal between the Disney and Creator/WarnerMedia to partially share rights to 20th Century Studios' theatrical output through 2022.[[/note]]
* RoleReprise: For [[https://youtu.be/g7q60i_Lh_E special promotional video]] for the film, Reynolds and Waititi reprised their roles as Deadpool and Korg from the ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' films and ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' respectively, marking the first time that Reynolds' Deadpool interacts with a Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse character.
* SleeperHit: Unexpectedly, the film managed to open slightly better than the more heavily-publicized ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' with $28 million (and much above COVID-19 pandemic times expectations), then made $18.9 million in its second weekend. The drop of just 34% marked the smallest second-weekend decline of any wide release of the summer of 2021, and the second-best of Reynolds' career. Disney even greenlit a sequel.

** Due to the Disney-Fox merger that was occurring while this film was in development, Creator/RyanReynolds and Creator/ShawnLevy put together a list of Marvel and Star Wars references they wished to use, expecting they'd get permission to use one. Instead, they got permission to use whatever they wanted, resulting in the rapid-fire gags during Guy and Dude's fight.
** Creator/ChrisEvans' cameo was possible because ''Series/DefendingJacob'' was in production in Boston at the same time as ''Free Guy''. Shawn Levy reached out and Evans agreed to come over and shoot the gag, which was completed in ten minutes.

* ReleaseDateChange: One of many films with a significant move as a result of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, this move was from July 3, 2020 to December 11. Creator/RyanReynolds released an unfinished clip from the film and had a fingers crossed emoji placed next to the new date. The film was then delayed to May 21, 2021, then again to August 13, which was its final date. The film is part of the last batch of Fox-greenlit projects that Disney is contractually obligated to release in theaters, hence it couldn't be dumped on streaming services.[[note]]Ironically, months later the film would be released on ''both'' the Disney+ and [=HBOmax=] streaming services on the same week.[[/note]]

* ReleaseDateChange: One of many films with a significant move as a result of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, this move was from July 3, 2020 to December 11. Creator/RyanReynolds released an unfinished clip from the film and had a fingers crossed emoji placed next to the new date. The film was then delayed to May 21, 2021, then again to August 13, which was its final date. The film is part of the last batch of Fox-greenlit projects that Disney is contractually obligated to release in theaters, hence it couldn't be dumped on streaming services.
** Ironically, the film would be released on ''both'' the Disney+ and [=HBOmax=] streaming services in the same week.

** Millie's avatar name of [=MolotovGirl=] nods to Creator/JodieComer's role as a Russian assassin in ''Series/KillingEve''.

** Ironically, the film would be released on ''both'' the Disney+ and HBOmax streaming services in the same week.

* ActorAllusion: Matty Cardarople's character is listed in the credits as "Keith", the same name as the character he played in ''Series/StrangerThings''.

* PermanentPlaceholder: InUniverse, Dude's dialogue was never fully fleshed out, so he yells his stage directions and says "catchphrase" in place of an actual catchphrase. Antwan considers leaving it as-is since it's amusing [[spoiler:and he maintains the same dialogue in ''Free Life'']].

* ActingForTwo: Reynolds portrays both Guy, and the heavily muscle-bound "anti-Guy" NPC, Dude.

** The British Creator/JodieComer plays the American Millie. Although Comer uses an English accent for Millie’s Molotov Girl persona, it is not her natural Liverpudlian accent.

* PlayingAgainstType: Ryan Reynolds, best known for playing cynical {{Deadpan Snarker}}s like Film/{{Deadpool}} and [[Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu Detective Pikachu]], plays the idealistic and naive Guy.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Creator/AlexTrebek appears in a cameo, but due to COVID-related release delays the film came out in theaters after his death and in the midst of the search for his successor on ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''.