It seems like Fox Studios can never catch a break when it comes to their X-Men franchise. They started off the year with an enormous $700 million dollar hit in Deadpool. They followed that up in May with the release of X-Men: Apocalypse, which was a disappointment both critically and financially. The Gambit project also lost its director, which has left the movie in limbo as well. Their fortunes changed this week, with the first trailer release for Logan, which sent the internet ablaze. However, late Friday night the X-Men franchise suffered its latest setback and now Deadpool is the latest to be struck with bad luck.
According to a report from Deadline, Deadpool director Tim Miller has left the production of Deadpool 2. This is what the trade had to say about the departure.
After a series of creative differences between Deadpool director Tim Miller and star Ryan Reynolds, Miller has exited Deadpool 2. He hadn’t formally signed a deal to continue, but he was developing the script and by all accounts had planned to return behind the camera for a film Fox will release in 2018.
While the film wasn’t given a specific release date, there are various placeholders for the movie, with most assuming that it would get a February 2018 premiere. It’s even more interesting because it seemed that Miller and Reynolds had a good working relationship.
The movie is currently casting and a script does exist, so it’s a little curious why this would happen at such a late stage of development. There have been a swirl of rumors linking names like MacKenzie Davis (The Martian), Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane), as being in the later stages of the casting process. It would seem unlikely that it was simply over this, as the report did indicate that a “series of creative differences” have led to this decision.
Now the quest for a replacement director is underway. Whoever is hired is certain to have a hit on their hands, so there should be a line of applicants around Fox Studios. However, the character of Deadpool has a very specific viewpoint and charm that could be easy to get wrong. Reynolds along with screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, will be staying on board, so hopefully much of the vision and spirit of the first will be retained. In any case, there is definitely a lot more to this story than meets the eye, so expect to here more – including a replacement director announcement – relatively soon.
Deadpool 2 currently does not have a release date.
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Source: CBM