It’s tough to get a movie made in Hollywood, and much has been said aboutRyan Reynolds' journey that took the better part of a decade in order to getDeadpoolmade. A lot happened in the 10-year period in his career, perhaps most notably the failedGreen Lanternmovie that he starred in. Interestingly enough, as it turns out, even during the filming of that movie he was focused onDeadpool. So much so in fact that he and writersRhett ReeseandPaul Wernickworked on the script forDeadpoolwhileRyan Reynoldswas filmingGreen Lantern.
The actor recently guested on theTHR Awards Chatter PodcastandDeadpoolwas a major topic of conversation.Ryan Reynoldsrevealed that while he was makingGreen Lantern, Fox found a renewed interest in gettingDeadpoolmade, so he decided to work on the movie, which is a competing franchise at a rival studio. Here is what he had to say about it.
“The weird plot twist was, somehow, some way, Deadpool got reinvigorated at Fox while [Green Lantern] was happening. … What a lot of people don’t know is [writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick] flew to New Orleans and, while I was shootingGreen Lantern, we were actually all together writing Deadpool.”
Ryan Reynoldstalked a lot about the long process of getting the movie made on the podcast and he was so committed toDeadpoolthat when he realized he may actually get the part inGreen Lantern, he offered to drop out if Fox thought makingDeadpoolwas a real possibility. They told him it wasn’t, so he moved ahead withGreen Lantern. As he points out, even though Fox told him it wasn’t a possibility,Deadpoolonce again became a reality, so despite the fact that Warner Bros. probably wouldn’t have loved it, he as well asRhett Reese and Paul Wernickdecided to get the script going. That turned out to be a good decision. Here is how he described the situation.
“I quickly called the executive I knew at Fox who had Deadpool and I said, ‘Look, I am standing at the altar right now, and I’m about to say “I do” to someone else. I will walk away from this if you even think that you can make aDeadpool moviewith me.’ And he said, ‘Unfortunately, no, I don’t think that that’s gonna happen.’ So I went off and did Green Lantern.”
The successes ofDeadpoolhave been talked about a lot, but it is truly surprising just how big of a hit the movie wound up being. Working from a budget of just $58 million,Deadpoolgrossed $783 million worldwide. Outside of the financial success, the movie was really embraced by critics and most definitely the fans. Now, what is perhaps most surprising is that as awards season ramps up, it is seeming more and more likely thatDeadpoolwill wind up getting an Oscar nomination or two. The movie scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture (comedy or musical) andRyan Reynoldsscored a nomination in the Best Actor category.Deadpoolwas also nominated by the Writers Guild of America in the Best Adapted Screenplay category and the Producers Guild of America also gave the movie some recognition recently. All of this to say,Deadpool, an R-rated,ultra-violent superhero movienobody wanted to make, could wind up a nominee at the Academy Awards this year. On the podcast,Ryan Reynoldspromised a big surprise for fans if the movie does get an Oscar nomination.
“We had no idea we would ever get anything beyond an MTV Movie Award best kiss nomination. If it does end up in that category, I think that’s kind of a cool moment, for not just us, but for everybody, for the people that went to see the movie, the people that made the movie, the studio, even the Academy. I don’t think that any superhero film has ever really broken that glass ceiling, so it would be nice to see one like Deadpool do it. And I can certainly promise one f*cking crazy reaction video online. In the Deadpool suit. Guaranteed.”
Even ifDeadpooldoesn’t wind up with any Oscar nominations, it will go down as a massive success and something that will change the thinking in the industry moving forward. Whereas something likeGreen Lanternhelped change the thinking at Warner Bros., but for less positive reasons, since the movie bombed in a big way. Thanks to the success, fans can look forward toDeadpool 2, which doesn’t have a release date but is expected to film this year. The movie is once again being written byRhett ReeseandPaul Wernick, but directorTim Millerwon’t be back, since he left over “creative difference.” Instead, it will beJohn Wickco-directorDavid Leitchat the helm.
