John Krasinski Is Teaming Up With Ryan Reynolds For A Fantasy Comedy

Ryan Reynolds and John Krasinski

John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds are both currently experiencing some of the best success of their career, with the former flying high thanks to acclaimed horror hit A Quiet Place, and the latter making hits like the Deadpool movies and Detective Pikachu. Any project either of them do earns instant attention, which makes it all the more exciting that they are now planning their first collaboration.

Both stars are now attached to make the fantasy comedy Imaginary Friends - which John Krasinski is also set to both write and direct. The trade report says that the project recently inspired a bidding war among the major studios, with Sony and Lionsgate putting in significant bids, but it appears that the movie is going to be made by Paramount.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Reynolds will play the film's main character - a man with a peculiar gift: he has the ability to both see and communicate with the imaginary friends of other people. This includes not only those currently hanging out with their creators, but also those who have been "forgotten or discarded." A conflict arises when the hero discovers that some of these friends aren't so friendly, and that because of his gifts he must act to try and save the world.

There is no word yet on the role that John Krasinski will play in the film.

Being still very, very early in the stages of development, Imaginary Friends doesn't have a timetable just yet, so we can't say for certain exactly when it will be made. And that's an interesting detail considering both Ryan Reynolds and John Krasinski are pretty busy right now.

Having already been seen in Detective Pikachu, and Hobbs & Shaw, Reynolds has already spent a good amount of time on the big screen in 2019, but he still has one feature still coming the form of Michael Bay's 6 Underground (which will be out in December). He has also completed filming both the sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, and the action comedy Free Guy, but has a slate that includes projects like The Croods 2, Clue, A Christmas Carol, and possibly a Marvel Cinematic Universe-set Deadpool movie.

Meanwhile, John Krasinski has not only been continuing his career as a feature filmmaker, with A Quiet Place: Part II currently in post-production and scheduled for May 20, 2020, but also has been busy making television. He plays the titular role in Amazon Prime Video's Jack Ryan series, which is currently rolling out its second season.

We can't say for certain right now exactly when we will get to see Imaginary Friends come together, but it is most certainly now a movie that is firmly on our radar. To see what actually is coming out soon, be sure to check out both our 2019 Release Calendar, and our 2020 Release Calendar.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.