STACK NZ Jun #74

DVD & BD FEATURE

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Deadpool director Tim Miller explains why he never gave up on bringing Marvel Comics’ foul-mouthed superhero to the big screen. BETTER OFF DEADPOOL

DVD & BD

F or a hardcore comicbook fan like Tim Miller, the opportunity to make your feature film debut with one of Marvel’s cult favourites was a dream come true. However, it almost didn’t happen. Co-founder of Blur Studio, which specialises in visual effects and animation for the film and video game industries, Miller (pictured right with star Ryan Reynold) was taken on as director in 2011 and even went as far as shooting some test footage. However, the project became bogged down in development hell at the studio and for a time Deadpool looked, err, dead in the water. “We got it to a point where it was either make it or not, and Fox decided not,” he recalls. “Hollywood is

full of projects that don’t happen, so it wasn’t like I was shocked – but I was crushed. When it didn’t happen, the writers and I - and Ryan too - we really never gave up. My agent said, ‘dude, just walk away’, but I loved it so much. We kept pushing and two things happened: the footage we’d shot leaked, and Simon Kinberg came on board as a producer. Fox really trusts him, and he’s a real gatekeeper for all the Marvel stuff at Fox. Simon said, ‘look, the script is great, and Tim’s not a total loser. I really think you guys should make this film.'" It proved to be a very smart move. Deadpool is now the highest grossing ‘R’ rated movie in history, with a global box office take of more than $1 billion and unsurprisingly a sequel

JUNE 2016

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