Marvel Studios' movies and Disney+ series are famously made under insane budgets, with the average production budget sitting around $200 million. The comic book genre has long been associated with these crazy budgets, but there are some exceptions, such as Joker and Deadpool.
The Merc with the Mouth had his first solo outing made with just $58 million at 20th Century Fox, going up to $110 million for Deadpool 2. But now that Ryan Reynolds' R-rated franchise is making the jump to Marvel Studios and the MCU for Deadpool 3, one can only wonder if the franchise will see another leap in budget.
Well, following the announcement that Hugh Jackman will be returning as his iconic Wolverine for the threequel, Reynolds has addressed the budget that will be going into the follow-up, making comparisons to his own soccer club.
Deadpool 3 Star Addresses Threequel Budget
Speaking to Forbes Entertainment's Scott King, Deadpool 3 star Ryan Reynolds discussed the budget for the upcoming threequel, drawing comparisons to Welcome to Wrexham - a sports documentary about the soccer club he co-owns with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney.
Playing coy on questions of the budget, Reynolds insisted that "[they'll] have to take that up with Kevin Feige," but described the first movie's budget as "spit and about 58 cents" - Deadpool was made on a $58 million production budget:
Interviewer: "Ryan, there was a lot of mystery and intrigue with [Wrexham soccer player] Paul Mullin's one-year contract. Just curious if you could say if it was more or less than the projected budget for Deadpool 3?
Reynolds: "Well, you'll have to take that up with Kevin Feige. A certain Deadpool's budget was just spit and about 58 cents."
The actor went on to share his opinion that "too much time... and money" can reduce creativity as "great things happen when there are constraints:"
"It's interesting that you bring that up because I think there is actually a tangible parallel there, which is that I think great things happen when there are constraints. Typically, what murders creativity, in my mind, is when there's too much time and too much money."
Comparing the situation to Wrexham, his soccer club, Reynolds compared the budget of 2016's Deadpool to trying to run a club like his in a national league:
"When you're operating, at least when you're trying to create an operation in the national league with a club like Wrexham, you have to look at it in a sustainable way. You're not looking to put your finger on a scale that's just obscene in some way, but you are looking to build out a team that you can actually maintain and sustain for a long period, you're trying to sort of create a model there. You know that's not too dissimilar to how we looked at Deadpool."
The Deadpool star continued to turn "every barrier... [and] every moment the studio took away money" into something positive, and has been taking a similar approach to the upcoming threequel:
"Every barrier we were up against, every moment the studio took away money that we needed for our budget, we found ways to turn that into lemonade, and that's how we've been approaching this project certainly."
Is Deadpool 3 The Most Expensive Yet?
Deadpool was made on just $58 million before the sequel raised to $110 million, and the third installment ought to step things up once again even further. This should especially be the case after the first two movies earned a combined $1.5 billion at the box office, becoming two of the highest-grossing movies in Fox's entire X-Men catalog.
But as Ryan Reynolds told the interviewer to pose the same question to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, he may not even have the final budget figure yet.
With Deadpool 3 being made under Marvel Studios and Disney, as opposed to 20th Century Fox, Reynolds ought to have more money to work with than ever, even if he may find it unnecessary. After all, even the cheapest movies in the MCU, the two Ant-Man flicks, were made under a $130 million price tag.
But as Reynolds shared his belief that large budgets and a lack of obstacles to overcome "murder creativity," he may not be so eager to work under such an immense amount of money. After all, as the Deadpool icon said, these obstacles are what force creative solutions, that lead to a more unique final result.
Nonetheless, he will almost certainly be offered an increased budget, especially after the first two flicks became so successful financially on such small budgets. Perhaps that additional money will be going toward Hugh Jackman, who earned an estimated $20 million per FoxVerse movie and will likely see a bump for his return.
Between joining the MCU, the franchise returning after six years, and Jackman coming back as Wolverine, Deadpool 3 ought to be the biggest box office hit of the trilogy. Perhaps it will even beat Joker's $1.07 billion gross, which currently holds the record for the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.
Deadpool 3 hits theaters on September 6, 2024.
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