According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Reynolds’ agents are ready for a “big renegotiation” that will significantly boost Reynolds’ compensation for a Deadpool sequel. The same financial bounty should be extended to director Tom Miller, who made his feature debut with Deadpool .
Unlike Reynolds, Miller is not already signed to a sequel, meaning that if Fox wants to keep the creative team together, it will have to woo him back with that most weighty of courtship considerations: dolla dolla bills. Deadpool made over $500 million internationally in less than two weeks and cost 20th Century Fox only $58 million to make, so Fox will have to spread the cheddar to keep all of the key players who made Deadpool a success in spite of the studio’s battle not to make it.
Miller was paid only $250,000 up front, but was eligible for box-office bonuses along with Reynolds. Miller, whose previous career in film has been as a visual effects and title-sequence specialist, had been developing the movie since 2011. Sources say he has an option for a future Fox movie that would double his fee.
As for Reynolds, he was paid $2 million upfront but is now likely to make over $10 million from it, especially if Deadpool hits the $800 million in global sales that it’s projected to reach. The big payday for Reynolds is especially delicious after Green Lantern (2011) and R.I.P.D. (2013) dealt serious blows to his movie star status.
One benchmark for bonus money was a $150 million cumulative box office gross in North America, a number Deadpool beat in its first four days. But if Fox plans to ride this money train, let’s hoping it keeps its conductors, including writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, appropriately compensated.
Deadpool first appeared as a villain in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine , where he was mangled past recognition and over Reynolds’ vocal protests. Deadpool’s spinoff mouldered in development hell as Fox execs presumably sat there and exchanged baffled looks. When a test footage reel was leaked in August 2014 and the fans absolutely lost it , Fox was forced to greenlight Deadpool . Fan reaction has ranged from rapturous to totally rapturous , with the bank singing all the way home.
Want to find out what’s in the Deadpool post-credits scene? Spoiler alert: you can find out here .
