Free Guy 2 with Ryan Reynolds may not happen because of the success of Barbie according to director Shawn Levy

The massive success of Warner Bros. Barbie – which became the highest-grossing movie of 2023 last week – has also affected the state of the 20th Century Studios sequel Free Guy 2.

Free Guy starred Ryan Reynolds as a mild-mannered bank teller who learns he’s actually a non-player character (NPC) in an open-world online video game.

The film earned $121.6 million at the domestic box office and $331.5 million worldwide from a reported budget of $100 million.

A sequel was confirmed last March, with 20th Century Studios’ Steve Asbell stating there was a ‘fantastic story.’

However, now that Barbie has broken through in record-setting ways at the box office, Free Guy director Shawn Levy told Collider he’s not so sure a sequel will happen now, due to the similarities between Free Guy and Barbie.

‘I think it is definitely not assured. We love Free Guy and the love for Free Guy that has kind of resonated in aftershocks, if you will, in the last couple of years,’ Levy began.

‘That’s been thrilling to Ryan [Reynolds] and I. We are developing a sequel, but 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,’ he admitted. 

While there are vast differences between Barbie and Free Guy, they both do center on characters,’ in a fictional world who comes to self-awareness’ as Levy said.

‘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,’ Levy insisted.

Barbie also has something in common with Free Guy, in that they both were in development for many years before finally getting off the ground.

Mattell first signed a deal to produce a Barbie movie with Universal way back in 2009, which ultimately shifted to Sony and ultimately to Warner Bros. 

Actresses such as Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway were in contention to play the title character before Margot Robbie signed on.

Free Guy was written in 2016, with Levy previously turning down the script when he first read it that year.

He came back to the project after meeting Ryan Reynolds and reading the script together and deciding they wanted to work on it together. 

Free Guy also starred Lil Rel Howrey, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi and Joe Keery, with Levy directing from a script by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn.

While Warner Bros. hasn’t officially announced a Barbie sequel yet, director Greta Gerwig indicated she would return to the helm.

‘There’s a tone and a humor and a joy, and obviously the world is so beautiful. I want to go back to Barbie Land,’ she said.