We here at Cinema Blend often talk of projects trapped in development hell, be it Ghostbusters IIIor the long awaited Janis Joplin biopic, but one that we find ourselves cheering on regularly is the comic book movie Deadpool. While the film has many pieces already in place - including a star (Ryan Reynolds), a script (written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese) and a director (Tim Miller) - 20th Century has never seemed to be 100% committed to it, despite loud fan outcry.
When I spoke with producer Lauren Shuler Donner about the project in 2011, she told me that they would have an idea about its future by the end of the year. Obviously that time has come and pass, but apparently hope is still alive for the movie.
Speaking on behalf of Blur Studios and answering fan's questions about the Kickstarter that just launched for the adaptation of Eric Powell's Goon, Miller took the opportunity to answer a single question about the status of Deadpool, and the news was rather positive.
"We've turned in an amazing script and done some early tests and visual development that--I'm confident--would get the fans stoked," Miller wrote. "And Ryan [Reynolds] still loves the project. So it's really up to Fox as to whether or not the film happens--all I can do is hope (and beg periodically) that it be allowed to move ahead."
After this quote got out into the world, Robert Liefeld, who is the character's creator, took to his Twitter account to add a few updates of his own. According to the writer, one of the biggest obstacles that was facing the Deadpool movie was the studio's chairman and CEO - and the good news is that he recently stepped down. "The single biggest blockade(blockhead?) is gone," Liefeld said. "Mr. Tom Rothman has been removed from Fox. Not a friend of Deadpool's." He continued, saying,
Hopefully it will all eventually come together and we can all bathe in the awesomeness that would be a Deadpool movie.
