June 14, 2010

Fox Offers Deadpool To Robert Rodriguez


The Playlist (via Production Weekly) have another great tidbit of "what if" Marvel news. PW reports that 20th Century Fox has sent out an offer to Robert Rodriguez to direct the Deadpool movie. Ryan Reynolds is expected to start pre-production on the film as soon as he finishes shooting Green Lantern. It's been a pet project for the actor for years and has promised fans a faithful film. The studio came through hiring Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to pen the film's screenplay. Now if they hire Robert Rodriguez to direct fans should rejoice. I'm curious if this means the film will rated-R.


So why it Robert perfect for Deadpool? I've been hoping the director would come on board but besides my own wishful thinking here are some good pro-points. Sin City is most likely the biggest example of why he is perfect. The film is beyond faithful to the source material to the point of turning the film into a living comic book. It would be the best way to regain the trust of scorned DP fans. What about helming big over the top humor fueled action film? He's got that covered with his El Mariachi trilogy (El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon A Time In Mexico) which seems similar to the sense of humor in the comics. Even his new film Machete seems to be borrowing from his fantastic dark sense of humor. The film's budget is another issue while Fox seems likely to spend $100-200 million on both Wolverine 2 and X-Men First Class it's doubtful DP will get that kind of money. It's plausible that the DP's budget could end up in the $40-80 range which is common ground for Rodriguez. Filming and effects being done in house means he can work with small budgets.




Don't hold you're breath he'll take the job. Robert is known for talking up and starting up film projects he never ends up making. Sin City 2 is the perfect example of one of his most anticipated movies but has been stuck in limbo for years. There is also the issue of projects currently in development which include Spy Kids 4, Neverwracker, Red Sonja (producing) and his epic sounding Fire & Ice adaptation. Rodriguez recently was approached by Fox to direct Rise of The Apes which he declined. He had previously developed blockbuster films that didn't workout like Clash of The Titans, The Jetsons and even a remake of Barbarella which had costumes/sets ready to go. So just because an offer has gone out it doesn't mean he'll take it.


This sort of reminds of how Fox was able to wrangle Matthew Vaughn into directing X-Men First Class. They understand to be able to compete with Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment they're going to have hire comic genre-vets to make sure the films are successful. I'm expect they'll be able to come up with an attractive contract which might include future financing for Robert's original films. Unlike Vaughn, Robert has a constructive working relationship with Fox. He recently co-wrote and produced Predators and the studio is distributing his pet project Machete. Troublemaker Studios most likely would handle the film's production since their involvement in every Rodriguez project. Fans could be relieved that the special effects will be done properly not like the messy CGI in Wolverine.

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