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Ten years ago, test footage of Ryan Reynolds’ comic-accurate Deadpool leaked on the internet, which acted as a catalyst in getting the 2016 film eventually greenlit. In the footage, the merc with a mouth can be heard making a quip,“HI Tom”, and later, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld broke his silence on the Tom mentioned in the leaked video.
Not associated with showbiz, Liefeld had no hesitance in dropping the bombshell on a former Fox executive, who almost killed the film years before it got eventually made.
Rob Liefeld Elaborated on the Name Mentioned inDeadpoolLeaked Footage
While 2016 finally sawRyan Reynolds‘ comic-accurate Deadpool hit the screens, seven years after theabomination inX-Men Origins, the script for it was already penned back in 2010. However, even though the initial script from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick was identical to the film that was released in 2016, former Fox executive Tom Rothman ensured the ball didn’t get rolling.
“S*x… terrible but somehow I have four children”: Ryan Reynolds’ Love Life With Blake Lively Becomes the Butt of Jokes After Hugh Jackman Exposes a Flaw of the Deadpool Star
Rob Liefeldrecalled that Rothman, who was mentioned in the leak, was apparently against the film, which was surprising to Liefeld, as he thought Rothman would be onboard after thetest footage.
He told (viaVariety):
I’ll jump on the sword. I don’t really work in the movie business, so I’ve always been able to navigate and speak freely. The answer is two words: Tom Rothman. He is now the [chairman] of Sony. I wish him well. He’s a canny operator in the business.
But when he gets it in his mind to dismiss something — nothing seemed to push him over the edge. I thought for sure [he would be on board] when he saw how good Deadpool looked and moved [in the test footage], but for whatever reason, we had an opponent to the film.
Fortunately, after Rothman departed from Fox in 2012, which was then followed by a mysterious leak in 2014, Fox eventually rolled the ball onDeadpool, and the rest is history.
Tim Miller Was Open To Making Ryan Reynolds’DeadpoolPG-13
Before the film got eventually greenlit, director Tim Miller recounted being open to sacrificing the film’s R-rating if it meant the top brass at Fox was on board with it. Considering Reynolds was coming from the failure ofGreen LanternandOrigins,and Miller was a rookie in the industry, theyaskedFox if a PG-13 rating would be the key to getting the project moving.
At one point I asked if a PG-13 would move the needle and then they let me do a more sanitized version of the script. We lost a few ‘f—s’ and we lost a few sexual references. But we didn’t have to adjust the violence at all. Wolverine is stabbing people with swords on his hands and that’s happily PG-13.
Thanks to the leak, which garnered overwhelming fan support, they didn’t have to resort to a sanitized version of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick’s script.
“Weird, bad AI versions of me”: X-Men Star James McAvoy’s Brutally Honest Opinion on Deadpool & Wolverine’s Cassandra Nova Will Make Emma Corrin Cry Real Tears
Deadpoolis available to stream on Disney+.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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Rob LiefeldRyan ReynoldsTim MillerTom Rothman
