With Deadpool 2 now out in theaters, audiences are terribly excited for the Merc With The Mouth's future on the big screen -- and that will next happen in writer/director Drew Goddard's X-Force. Unfortunately, we don't really have an expected arrival yet, with 20th Century Fox not announcing a release date just yet, but now we know when Goddard will start work on the blockbuster in earnest. I asked the filmmaker about balancing the project with his most recent directorial effort, and he told me,
It's a good question. I've learned I'm very much a one-movie-at-a-time kind of guy, and they all know. It's the same studio, which is nice, so they can say, 'Okay, get [Bad Times At The El Royale] done,' and then once I get this movie done and get this into theaters we'll turn our attention that way.
I spent the first few days of this week in Lake Tahoe as part of a press event for Bad Times At The El Royale, and it was at the end of my interview with Drew Goddard that I asked about the status of X-Force. The director's sophomore film is notably coming together extremely fast -- it started production in January and will be in theaters in October -- and it turns out he hasn't had a ton of time to dedicate towards thinking about his first big comic book movie. It's all for the best, however, as it turns out he's not big on juggling projects.
Drew Goddard has had some experience already working in the world of superhero adaptations, though there have been a few hitches along the way. After providing some advice to Joss Whedon about the characterization of Loki in the making of The Avengers, he had his first real opportunity to contribute to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Daredevil series on Netflix. He is still credited as the creator, and wrote the first two episodes, but in the midst of development he left to work with Sony on their Sinister Six film -- planned as a spin-off from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That particular franchise wound up abruptly ending, with Spidey swinging back to the MCU, and that idea went on the shelf, but in late 2017 he was hired by Fox to helm their long-awaited X-Force movie.
Outside of comic book features, Drew Goddard has kept himself extremely busy since making his directorial debut with The Cabin In The Woods, with his greatest achievement being the Academy Award nomination he earned for writing 2015's The Martian. That being said, Bad Times At The El Royale will be only the second movie he's directed, arriving more than six years after his brilliant meta horror film. That certainly supports his sentiment regarding being a "one-movie-at-a-time kind of guy," though fans are still incredibly hungry to see what he will do with Deadpool, Cable, Domino and more in X-Force.
While we don't yet know how long we'll have to wait for the arrival of X-Force, there is plenty of Drew Goddard's work coming soon. The amazing NBC comedy series The Good Place, which he contributes to as an Executive Producer, is beginning its third season on September 27th. And as mentioned, on the big screen we will soon get to be entranced by the star-studded Bad Times At The El Royale, starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman, Cynthia Erivo and more. Fox will have it in theaters on October 5th, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews!
