Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s children are big fans of their dad’s movies. So much so, in fact, that they couldn’t stop watching the trailer for his latest movie IF before it was released on May 13th. Reynolds fondly shared how it caused lots of problems for the family.
The Kids Loved the Trailers
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have four children. Ines, James, and Betty are the older children, and they had another child in February 2023 but haven’t publicly shared the name.
The children were so obsessed with the IF trailer that Reynolds joked it was hard to get them out of the house to go to school. Reynolds also said that they adored his costar, Cailey Fleming, whom he most trusted to babysit them among the IF cast.
IF Is for Imaginary Friend
So, what exactly is IF about? It’s about a girl who has the ability to see other people’s imaginary friends, so she decides to do good and try to reunite children with their “forgotten IFs.”
Ryan Reynolds narrates the trailer, asking viewers what would happen if everything they believed as kids was real, opening a closet door to show a big purple imaginary friend who’s very confused.
Awaiting a Follow-Up
Ryan shared that Betty has a very vivid imagination, which may be why she and his other children enjoyed the idea of the movie so much. We can’t wait to hear what they think of the film once they see it!
The movie was written and directed by John Krasinski and features his wife Emily Blunt and their costars Ryan Reynolds, Steve Carell, Maya Rudolph, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Awkwafina, Amy Schumer, Bobby Moynihan, Christopher Meloni, Cailey Fleming, among others. IF was released in the theaters on May 17th.
Glass Onion Director Weighs in on Major Streaming Cancellations Trend
Anyone who’s enjoyed a streaming service’s show, just to have it abruptly cut off without any real resolution, knows that streaming companies have been canceling shows left and right. Even a production being wildly successful won’t shield it from the risk of cancellation, despite that previously being a factor. This change is because society has moved away from watching TV, in which ratings are everything, and is now signing up for streaming services. It’s no longer lucrative for a company to keep a show on for many seasons, despite how beloved the series may be because anyone who’s interested in that particular show would have already paid for the streaming service when the first season came out. Therefore, streaming services want to constantly bring in new shows to get new viewers, and aren’t spending budget on later seasons of existing content.
Like many other artists who rely on multiple installments for their content, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery director Rian Johnson is feeling the heat. He’s explained, “It’s been horrifying. The fact that it’s becoming common practice is terrible and adds to the awfulness. In the history of the business, there has been a constant evolution of horrible things. All you can do as someone who makes stuff is ultimately put your faith in the notion that if you make something, it’s going to find its audience.”
It seems that content creators and streaming services may not be able to continue on like this. Just as artists have done in the past, it may be time for directors to find other ways to get their series out to the public. With new platforms popping up, seemingly every day, it wouldn’t be surprising if a new type of movie and TV show platform were to emerge. Until some billionaire or tech genius decides to tackle that project, we’ll stick with our Netflix shows. Just make sure not to get too invested…