Taika Waititi on 'Free Guy': Was attracted to idea of being inside gaming world

Waititi said: "Reading the script, I was attracted to this idea of being inside the gaming world and seeing how those characters interact and how everything works with human characters coming in with avatars and stealing cars, and committing crimes and doing all those things that you get to do in 'Free City,' and how that affects them."

'Free Guy' also stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery and Utkarsh Ambudkar. It is directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn and a story by Lieberman.

Taika plays Antwan, the greedy mogul behind 'Free City', which has been financially very lucrative for Soonami.

Levy said: "Taika takes an already funny script and is riffing on a level that is frickin' sublime. His mind is so fast, and so Antwan is, I think, a villain for the ages. Someone that you delight in but also hate to death, and the fact that Taika is able to walk that razor's edge and make him both loathsome and hilarious, is a testament to that guy's talent."

"Taika is just a beast," said Reynolds.

He added: "We could literally have cut an entire film of just his outtakes, of just the stuff we didn't use. He is a legend in every moment. The stuff he does and the way his mind works and how quick and reflexive he is, it's just unreal."