One of Ryan Reynolds’ 2021 Movies Just Earned a Major Nomination

One of 2021’s underdog blockbusters just landed its first award nomination. Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds has been nominated for best comedy at the Critics’ Choice Awards. Reynolds celebrated the news on Instagram when it first broke.

“Free Guy – nominated for BEST COMEDY by the Critics Choice Awards is an absolutely huge moment for this whole team,” Reynolds wrote alongside a poster from the movie. “Congrats to everyone – particularly my co-producer, director, friend and co-pilot [Shawn Levy].” His post picked up over half a million likes and many comments, including some from famous friends and colleagues who congratulated him on the nomination.

“IT WAS A MAGNIFICENT MOVIE,” one fan commented. Another wrote: “Absolutely love this movie, it’s definitely a new family favorite” with a heart-eyes emoji. A third added: “I’m a player and I really enjoyed the movie, I hope you win!”

Free Guy had a long and difficult road to this success, as it was one of the most-delayed movies of the entire COVID-19 pandemic. It was filmed in May of 2019 and slated for release on July 3, 2020, so Reynolds and his co-stars began a press tour to promote the movie as early as late 2019. Of course, when movie theaters shut down in March of 2020, the delays began.

While other movies saw hybrid releases on streaming services or simply tried their luck with partially-full theaters, Free Guy languished in limbo. Every time a reminder of the film’s existence popped up on social media, users would sardonically wonder if the movie really existed, or if it would ever see the light of day. It was first moved to December of 2020, then to May of 2021, and then finally to August of 2021 when it really did hit theaters.

As with many other recent releases, Free Guy made the leap to streaming shortly after its impact at the theater wore off. It was released on video-on-demand services on Sept. 28, 2021 for rental or purchase, and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray as well. It will be available to stream on Disney+ with a regular subscription starting on Feb. 23, 2022.

Commercially speaking, Free Guy at least surpassed its production budget at the box office, making it a relative success especially considering the times. However, after tiring of the movie’s fruitless promotion, many fans and critics were surprised to find that they enjoyed Free Guy when they finally got to see it. The critical response has been colored by this air of pleasant surprise all along.

Free Guy is available now on digital stores for rental or purchase, and will be added to Disney+ late next month. The Critics’ Choice Awards have been delayed due to rising COVID-19 cases, and there is no word yet on when the ceremony will be held.