We've heard star Ryan Reynolds share his thoughts on the planned
Deadpool movie recently, and now the film's two screenwriters talk. Speaking with
Collider while promoting
G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick talk about Fox's hesitation to greenlight
Deadpool due to the script's hard R rated approach, which they say is the biggest hurdle in the film' development. Reese confirms that there is indeed test footage from Reynolds and director Tim Miller, and that it's great.
"We have a phenomenal director in Tim Miller, who did about a 3-minute test for Fox, and Ryan came in to do the mo-cap for it and the voice. And it’s like the greatest three minutes ever. I look at the three minutes and I’m like, “That’s the movie, and it has to get made.” I think the biggest hurdle right now is convincing the-powers-that-be that it’s okay to have a hard-R rated movie within the Marvel Universe." Reese also says that a $50M budget is possible, which would account for lower ticket sales. He then states,
"I think there just has to be a tolerance for the outlier. There has to be a tolerance for this one project that’s not like all the other Marvel projects."
Wernick weighs in, saying that the approach to Deadpool needs to be like other Marvel characters in order to make him stand out.
"Iron Man was like that when it came out. Tony Stark and the hard drinking, fast-talking billionaire was very different from all the other Marvel characters. And look what it became. And we feel that way about Deadpool." Finally, Reese shares his thoughts on the script leaking and seeing fans' reactions.
"The script leaked online in some bizarre way that we haven’t figured out, so it’s very easily findable out there. It’s pretty much you go on Google and type in “Deadpool script” and you’ll find it. Not to say people should be doing that because it certainly wasn’t something we anticipated or enjoyed in the moment, but the Deadpool fans who found it think that it’s right in the wheelhouse of what a Deadpool movie should be. And so again, we’re just fighting that uphill battle to convince people, and be positive."