Fox Confirms Deadpool Movie Back On, Set For 2016 Release
Fans of the Merc with a Mouth can rejoice! Fox has just announced that the Deadpool movie – once believed to have been consigned to the… well… dead pool – is back on track. We can expect to see Deadpool in action in 2016, a true sign that mercenary miracles do happen, so long as you pray hard enough to the right god.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the good news on Thursday, pointing to an announcement from Fox that Deadpool will kill again. Fox has set an open date of February 12, 2016 for the Deadpool film; not the biggest vote of confidence in ol’ Wade Wilson, as winter is typically the graveyard of movie releases, but the movie could well surprise even those genius studio execs who initially canned the Deadpool flick.
Reportedly, Tim Miller – who was already said to be attached to the Deadpool movie – will still helm the film, and Ryan Reynolds is still expected to star as Deadpool. No deals have been made, though, but it seems unlikely that Reynolds would abandon a role with such a built-in fanbase and support.
Reynolds has reportedly wanted to play Deadpool since 2003, and fans of the comic know just how well Reynolds and Deadpool would seemingly go together. Reynolds is an avowed fan of the character, and he played a (terrible) version of Deadpool in the 2009 film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
The Deadpool project was likely brought back to life after Fox executives saw the overwhelmingly positive response for test footage of the movie that leaked to the internet. That footage – filled to the brim with the over-the-top violence, humor, and fourth-wall-breaking references Deadpool lovers have come to expect – garnered millions of views and calls from fans for Fox to make a Deadpool movie a reality.
Now that reality is really being realized. It’s a happy day.
Aside from the new Deadpool news, Fox also revealed that it’s switching up some other aspects of its release schedule. The Fantastic Four reboot will be moving from June 19, 2015 to the August 7, 2015 spot. This could be a sign that Fox isn’t sure how Fantastic Four will stack up against Avengers: Age of Ultron, which opens earlier in the year but could have considerable staying power. The first Avengers movie is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, and the hype level for its sequel is going to be considerable. With no previous versions of the Fantastic Four having captured the public’s imagination, Fox may well be making sure that its reboot is well out of the path of Marvel’s inevitable juggernaut.
If Deadpool manages to take off, though, it would signal the continuing payoff of Fox owning the rights to Marvel’s X-Men. Deadpool would also give X-Men fans something to tide them over until X-Men: Apocalypse hits the screen later in 2016.
