How Free Guy's delayed release helped pack it with so many iconic gaming Easter eggs

Date:
Fri, 13 Aug 2021 10:38:52 +0000

Description:
Exclusive: Free Guy director Shawn Levy and production designer Ethan Tobman reveal why they populated the movie with numerous gaming Easter eggs.

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Free Guy is a movie steeped in video game history. The action-comedy film, which stars Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a non-playable character (NPC) who becomes self-aware and sets out to become the hero that Free City the game world
that Guy inhabits needs, is packed with gaming references.

Itll come as no surprise that multiple viewings are necessary to find them all, but what is unexpected is the sheer amount of gaming Easter eggs on display.

Game developers and studios can be hesitant to license out their products, particularly in an era where IP protection is becoming a more prominent topic of conversation. Free Guys chief creative team, though, found that most studios were extremely open to their properties inclusions so what was the primary factor behind this change of heart? Here are the best Netflix movies to watch right now Or check out these top tier TV shows on Amazon Prime instead Best Disney Plus movies

I think it's the fact that there was a sense early on [among developers] that this isnt strictly a video game movie, director Shawn Levy exclusively tells TechRadar. Were creating a game inside the movie, so we wanted Free City to have shades of GTA , Fortnite, Halo and other titles.

When we discussed including certain Easter eggs, we found a lot of game publishers and companies wanted their iconic imagery to be a part of this movie that, at its core, is about community. Its not just a movie about gaming; its about gamers and the communities that they create.

From Fortnite style ziplines to Pac-Man memorabilia, and Grand Theft Auto-esque character customization to players characters glitching out and running into walls, Free Guy much like Disneys Wreck-It Ralph films is packed with nods to numerous game series and commonly occurring (and
sometimes humorous) bugs. There are cameo appearances, from famous streamers including Ninja and JackSepticEye, too, which fans of such internet personalities will get a kick out of.

The amount of gaming secrets is certainly a feast for the eyes, but the near-infinite number that are present werent always part of the plan. Initially, Levy reveals, there was a limit on the number of Easter eggs that Free City contained.

That is, until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. With the movies release delayed, Levy and other key team members, including production designer Ethan Tobman, found themselves reviewing the movies original cut and eventually decided to pack Free Guy with as many gaming secrets as possible. (Image credit: 20th Century Studios/Disney)

We were constantly trying to one up each other in the best possible way, Tobman reveals. Shawn created this big canvas and we just kept trying to make it more fun, detailed, and self referential. It was a process of layering and adding more on top of what was already there and, hopefully, people will
watch it many times over to catch them all.

When the pandemic caused production to shut down, I rewatched the movie, Levy adds. And I realized that we could create more layers of visual effects. Id just sit there looking at the movie and tell Ethan that we need more background life, so we added more gaming references in. We have a scene where a Halo tank drives down the street but, originally, that wasnt in the script or early cuts of the movie.

Commendable as it is to reference as many iconic games as possible, Free Guys stacked catalog of Easter eggs can, at times, be overwhelming. Movies like Ready Player One and Space Jam: A New Legacy have shown that overpopulating a films background with incalculable references can be distracting, and potentially draw viewers eyes from what they should be focusing on in certain scenes.

Still, the decision to call on Free Guys sizable crew its knowledgeable post-production departments in particular for many of the movies Easter eggs means it feels less about ticking off boxes and more about reverence for the source material.

I went into this knowing that Im not an expert on gaming history, Levy
admits. So I surrounded myself with people who are younger and cooler than
me, and they were a constant source of suggestions. The Halo tank was
proposed by someone in the computer graphic department of the visual effects army, so ideas really did come from everywhere.

After years of underwhelming video game movie adaptations, including the Dwayne Johnson-starring Doom and 2015s Hitman: Agent 47, recent entries in
the gaming film genre have been received in a more positive light.

Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokmon: Detective Pikachu and Mortal Kombat have been met with largely positive reviews by fans, as well as performing well at the global box office and on HBO Max respectively.

With The Pokmon Company heavily involved in Detective Pikachus production,
and Sonics revised movie look created by artist and superfan Tyson Hesse,
Levy underlines that gaming expertise is clearly vital to their success.

Staying true to a game series roots goes a long way to ensuring that diehard fans will be happy with the results. As an original production, Free Guy doesnt have such an advantage but, through its myriad of gaming paraphernalia and callbacks to iconic franchises, Levy is hopeful that Free Guy will resonate with gamers as much as other recent game-centric movies.

I would hope that, when you see the whole movie, you'll see this is about the more affirmative aspects of that gaming community, Levy says. The globally connective experience of gaming is worth applauding and celebrating as well, and I hope audiences will embrace the new things that our movie brings [to
the gaming community].

Free Guy is showing now in theaters. Here are the best movies to catch on
HBO Max



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/how-free-guys-delayed-release-helped-pack-it-wi th-so-many-iconic-gaming-easter-eggs/


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