THE well-recognized science fiction comedy “Free Guy,” starring Ryan Reynolds as a background character in a video game, will be shown on the Chinese mainland, according to a promotional video circulated on Chinese social media Weibo on Wednesday.

    In the video, Reynolds announces the good news, and at the same time, he becomes a painter, drawing an interesting poster for Chinese fans. He says that the film is “the favorite work” of his career. The release date has not yet been revealed.

    In the film, Reynolds’ character, Guy, realizes he’s a non-playable character in a “Grand Theft Auto”-like game. The movie features co-stars Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery and Taika Waititi. When the movie opened in North America last weekend, it collected an estimated US$28.4 million in ticket sales despite a marketplace challenged by COVID-19. 

    “Free Guy” succeeded with an old-school formula: an original, star-fronted movie with good word-of-mouth playing only in theaters. The movie directed by Shawn Levy was made by the Walt Disney-owned 20th Century Fox, with a theatrical release contractually stipulated for the roughly US$100 million production.

    “Free Guy” is also the latest in a comeback for gaming-based movies. After decades of futility, Hollywood is increasingly finding success by mining video games for intellectual property. Reynolds starred in one of the best performing video game adaptations — 2019’s “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,” which grossed US$432 million worldwide.

    (SD-Agencies)