Deadpool lands a director... an unknown of sorts

Deadpool has a director, visual effects specialist, Tim Miller.  Yep, you read that perfectly, a visual effects specialist will direct his first feature film... the long awaited, long over-due, Ryan Reynolds starring, Deadpool!  This news is actually about a month old, but hey, I've been busy.  So here it is.

Miller has worked on a slew of action films such as: X-Men, Daredevil and Scott Pilgrim vs. World.  That's great that he can produce great visual effects, but can he direct?  I've had a month to mull this one over and let me tell you what I think.

At first I hated the idea.  Maybe it was my disappointment that Robert Rodriguez wouldn't be directing the film anymore (even if it was just a rumor).  I thought Rodriguez was the perfect fit for the R-rated action comedy that would be Deadpool.  I'm slowly coming around, and here's why; Miller has already directed in a way.

Granted Miller only worked on effects, but those require a tremendous amount of work.  He must set up the world (albeit in a computer), he has to translate the script, develop the tone and pacing of the scenes, choreograph, etc. etc.  You start to see that the effects process is just a slimmed down version of directing a feature.  Add to that that I loved the visual style of the three movies I listed above, and I'm feeling much better about the move.

I'm not defending Fox' decision to go with an unknown director, just trying to find the silver lining.  I'm sure Fox wanted to save a buck by hiring Miller, but the movie is not dead to me by this move.  Am I the minority?  What do you guys think?

Green Lantern vs. Deadpool, Who's Going to Win?

This is not good news. Or is it news at all? The creator of the Deadpool comic is Rob Liefeld. He's Tweeting away some nonsense, at least I think it is anyway. He's accusing Warner Brothers of taking the star of Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds, away from the project. He's Tweeting that WB wants to film the Green Lantern sequel immediately, even though the first film JUST WRAPPED!

Is it me, or does this feel like an episode of Entourage? WB wanted "Vinnie Chase" to film the sequel to Aquaman, rather than filming another movie. Wow, the similarities are really interesting.
I doubt WB is going to take Reynolds away from the Deadpool movie. First of all, unless it was planned, there's no way a trilogy will be filmed on a whim like this. The writers were just hired to write the sequel.

Second, Reynolds was already committed to both Deadpool AND another film to follow the filming of Green Lantern. That's not to mention the news today about R.I.P.D. He would not cancel two, potentially three, movies to film a Green Lantern sequel.

Third, and most importantly, Reynolds has a say! The man is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood. He can carry a franchise, or two or three; you think he's going to give up possibly 100 million dollars because WB says so? No! He campaigned for the role of Deadpool and it's an important project to him. Check out the video below to see his knowledge and passion for the character. The Deadpool movie/franchise WILL happen, with Reynolds dawning the mask, period. It was a story that really wasn't. Rob Liefeld needs to relax and cool it on the Tweets.

Robert Rodriguez Inching Closer to Directing "Deadpool"

The rumors are not new by any means, but it's still an interesting one. About two months ago I posted something about this. Robert Rodriguez is reportedly really close to signing on to direct Deadpool. He is just about to start filming Spy Kids 89 and is in post-production on Machete, so I'm not sure what the time frame is on this movie anymore.

Deadpool is set to star Ryan Reynolds, reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Reynolds is wrapping up his other comic-book gig, Green Lantern. Sooo when is this movie ever supposed to be made? Next year? 2012? I don't know if the studio wants to wait that long before Reynolds jumps ship.

I like Rodiguez, and hope he does the movie. It will make fanboys across the country go goo-goo over it. Some are hoping for a "cult" feel and tone to the movie. I say, make it an R-Rated Kick-Ass style action-comedy. It would really work for the character and Reynolds could easily pull it off. Either way, we have to wait and see.

Big name director for the Deadpool movie, guess who?

There's news today about a Deadpool director? Who may you ask? Robert Rodriguez! Director of some awesome stuff, like Desperado and Sin City. The movie was on the fast track after X-Men Origins: Wolverine featured the Deadpool character. Ryan Reynolds signed on to reprise his role as a spin-off feature. Then a road bump... he got cast as another superhero! Reynolds signed on to Warner Brothers' Green Lantern.

There was talk that Reynolds may have backed out of the Deadpool project, but that hasn't happened. It was reported by the guys at /slashfilm that Reynolds is indeed involved and the offer is out to Rodriguez to direct.


As long as Rodriguez takes a comedy-action approach to the movie, I'm totally OK with this decision by Fox. But if he tries to pull a Gavin Hood, and make the movie too serious for its own good, "somebody gonna get a hurt real bad". Hood made 'Wolverine' way too damn serious for its own good. And the fact that the Deadpool character is in fact a comedic one, let's hope Rodriguez takes a lighter approach. Till then, we'll keep ya posted.

The image at the top of the post is by DeviantArt contributor Will, screen name deusxmachina.

Deadpool movie WILL break the fourth wall, heck yeah!

Fans of Broadway will appreciate this posting. The new Deadpool movie will indeed break the fourth wall, just as the comic book does. Ryan Reynolds confirmed it to Empire this week. What is breaking the fourth wall? Simply really; the characters talk directly to the audience. Imagine all the characters in a box, well they "break the fourth wall" that is facing the audience. There were, and still are, plays on Broadway that incorporate this into their plays.

The comic book was the first of its kind to do so. Deadpool actually goes further than that. He acknowledges that he is a comic book character and sometimes he even references being a Marvel Comic book character specifically. To fans of the comic like myself, this is very exciting news. This means the Fox studio is taking the source material very seriously and hopefully doing a better job in pre-production than Wolverine did. Here are a few snippets from the interview with Reynolds:

The studio's working on a script and trying to find a director. The main goal is to make sure it stays close to the source material. I’ve always been a fan, at least for the last eight or nine years. I feel a bit of validation because I knew going into Wolverine that there’s a huge fan base for this and I don’t think anyone else did.

Deadpool concept art!

Folks, Themovieblog has given us fans a few concept art pictures from the upcoming Deadpool movie. The movie is obviously a spin-off from the Wolverine movie that Matt and I reviewed a few weeks ago. This is kind of exciting to see the different steps involved before you see the movie itself... but did Fox give us a huge secret?! In the concept art is Victor Creed aka Sabertooth... before today's release I didn't know if he would be starring in the film. Then again, it is just concept art and may not end up in the movie. Either way, this is some cool stuff. Ryan Reynolds is playing Deadpool and is acting as a consultant in the development process.

Possible Gambit Spin-Off

Ok, so this isn't the latest news, but it is still relatively recent. It seems Fox was so impressed with the Wolverine movie that they're giving Deadpool (confimed) a spin-off, but Gambit as well. Donner, a producer on Wolverine, says there are "internal converstions" going on about a Gambit spin-off. Ready for the best part? She wants to pursue Bryan Singer to come back and direct. For those who don't know, Bryan Singer directed the first two (best of the franchise) X-Men movies. He's a genius behind the camera (minus Superman Returns) and I would love to see this movie. The actor playing Gambit in the Wolverine Movie is Taylor Kitsch. He has his own ideas about where the movie should go with the story, and I agree with him. Kitsch suggests the story arc of the Guild of Theives. That's where Gambit became the character we know and love (I do anyway). Hopefully it takes place in New Orleans and they stay faithful to the comics. Either way, we'll keep you posted.

'Wolverine' Gambit Spotlight @ Yahoo! Video