Ryan Reynolds Updates Deadpool Progress; Rating Could Be a Factor
Posted 02.06.12 by Ryan
Besides X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner admitting last September that a Deadpool movie was still in the works and would "redeem" the character from his appearance in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the most recent update about the movie came when Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld teased a few weeks ago that he "may or may not" have seen eight minutes of "blow your mind" test footage from Deadpool.
The latest update about the movie's progress comes from actor Ryan Reynolds, who is attached to play the character once Fox decides to move forward. In an interview with MTV, Reynolds said that Deadpool is only a matter of "budget and time."
If it comes together the way it should, which is rated R and a little bit outside of the box, then yeah, for sure [I'm hopeful Deadpool comes together]. The script is there, everything just comes down to budget and time.
Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wrote the script for Deadpool, with visual effects guru Tim Miller hired to direct. Reynolds would not admit whether he took part in the test footage, but his comment about an R rating stood out as curious. Our feeling is that Fox probably wants the movie to be PG-13, and it would seem that Miller, Donner, and certainly Reynolds are waiting for Fox to OK an R rating.
Would a PG-13 rating ruin the effectiveness of a Deadpool movie? Donner said last September that Deadpool would be "violent, and outrageous, and funny" — all possible in a PG-13 movie. Sylvester Stallone recently made that very point about the PG-13 rating of the upcoming Expendables 2, calling the sequel the "Barbeque of Grand scale Ass Bashing" that "will not leave anyone hungry." That's Stallone's way of saying the sequel will be "violent and outrageous and funny."
Even Hugh Jackman has admitted that a PG-13 rating was possible for the upcoming non-sequel sequel of The Wolverine so as to not exclude the character's younger fans. Expectations on The Wolverine are huge, and if The Wolverine can't get an R rating, then Deadpool doesn't stand a chance either.
Of course, Deadpool would also require Reynolds' status as a leading man to improve after last summer's Green Lantern and The Change-Up failed to live up to box office expectations and turn Reynolds into a bonafide movie star. Safe House, which opens this Friday, and R.I.P.D., which opens in the summer of 2013, could finally accomplish that and convince Fox that Reynolds is viable enough for a big budget Deadpool that has an R rating.