20th Century Fox avoided taking another shot at ‘Deadpool’ for years after ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ failed with a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The studio only reconsidered after leaked CG test footage stirred interest online. Even then, the production budget was set at a modest $58 million, a relatively small amount for a superhero movie.
The limited budget also impacted Tim Miller’s paycheck for directing the movie. Miller, in a new chat with Collider, admitted that he didn’t earn as much as many would think, even though ‘Deadpool’ grossed $782 million worldwide.
“You know what I feel? Nothing but pride,” the director told the outlet, looking back at the 2016 release. “I mean, I feel like every time I walk down the aisles out there on the floor of CCXP and I see all these Deadpool figurines, I think they wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t made that film. And I feel uniquely fortunate that I could be part of it.”
“Then, then my second thought is, ‘I wish my director deals had a piece of the merchandising so that I could get some money from all of that.’ You guys might not know, but it’s not really a profitable thing to be a first-time director in Hollywood, and I’ll tell you exactly.”
“I got $225,000 to direct Deadpool,” he revealed. “I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that’s not a ton of money. Not that I’m not grateful, I’m f***ing grateful, that’s the way it is because you’re supposed to when you’re a first-time director. My agent said ‘Dude, you make more on an episode of The Walking Dead!’”
“I think a lot of people think that everyone’s getting paid millions and millions in Hollywood. It’s just not the case, not always. I don’t want to sound like I wasn’t grateful because I had worked, I was 50 when I got a chance to direct Deadpool, and I really thought I wasn’t going to get a chance to direct a movie even though I’d wanted to my whole life.”
Miller didn’t return for more ‘Deadpool’ movies after the 2016 original. David Leitch took on the helm in 2018’s ‘Deadpool 2,’ which earned $785 million while Shawn Levy directed this year’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ The third installment made history as the highest-grossing R-rated film and ranked as the 20th highest-grossing movie ever with $1.338 billion.
