Back in June, just a few months after the box office smash hitDeadpoolhit theaters, reports surfaced that production would begin on the sequelDeadpool 2in early 2017. A lot has happened between then and now, with originalDeadpooldirectorTim Millerleaving the sequel in October, due tocreative differenceswithRyan Reynolds. Another report surfaced in November that production was delayed, since no director had been found at the time, but just a few weeks later,John WickdirectorDavid Leitchcame aboard. Today we have word that 20th Century Fox is eyeing a June 2017 shoot in Vancouver.
The report comes fromWhat’s Filming, a website which tracks production movement in the Vancouver and British Columbia region. No specific locations within Vancouver were mentioned, but this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since the firstDeadpool moviewas filmed in Vancouver, which is also starRyan Reynolds' hometown. The production start date isn’t much of a surprise either, giving new directorDavid Leitchplenty of time to get pre-production started on this superhero sequel. It isn’t known how much the story will change now thatDavid Leitchis at the helm, but there were reportedly two different versions of the movie that were being bandied about, beforeTim Millerparted ways with the sequel.
Shortly afterTim Miller’s departure, a report surfaced that claimed the director wanted a “more stylish take” on the sequel, which would have cost three times the $58 million budget of the first movie, while star-producerRyan Reynoldsand writersRhett ReeseandPaul Wernickwanted to keep the sequel a low-budget adventure like the first movie. Earlier this month,Tim Millerrefuted those claims, revealing on a podcast that he wanted to make the same kind of movie as the first, because he thought that was “right for the character.” He also shot down claims that he wantedBloodlineandFriday Night LightsstarKyle Chandlerto play the iconic Cable, which was reportedly another point of contention that lead to the director’s departure.
Cable’s involvement in this sequel was confirmed in a most unusual way, withRyan Reynoldsappearing at the very end ofDeadpoolin full costume, in an homage toFerris Bueller’s Day Off, where he confirmed that Cable will be in the sequel. Since then, actors such asStephen LangandDolph Lundgrenhave expressed their interest in playing Cable, but no one has been officially cast at this time. BeforeTim Miller’s departure, the sequel was narrowing in on their finalists to play another iconic character, Domino.
Back in October, a report claimed that the studio’s short list forDominoincluded six actresses,Lizzy Caplan,Mary Elizabeth Winstead,Sienna Miller,Sofia Boutella,Stephanie SigmanandSylvia Hoeks. Finding a replacement forTim Millernaturally took precedence over this casting decision, but now thatDavid Leitchis on board, it’s possible that we may hear about who will play Domino soon. Then again, it’s also possible thatDavid Leitchcould have a completely different vision of the character, and the casting process may have be be started over from scratch. 20th Century Fox has yet to giveDeadpool 2an official release date at this time, but hopefully we’ll hear more soon as we get closer to a potential June production start.
