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Ryan Reynolds (Jokingly) Vows to Find Out Who Leaked Deadpool's Test Footage
Ryan Reynolds is apparently still looking for the person responsible for leaking the Deadpool test footage four years ago. After playing Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Reynolds made it his mission to make his own Deadpool movie. But the film appeared to be going nowhere until some early footage was released to an overwhelmingly positive response, showing that fans couldn’t wait to see Reynolds' vision come to life.
And the Merc with a Mouth surprised everyone. Due to the film’s R rating, it wasn’t expected to take off in theaters. So it came as a shock when 2016's Deadpool managed to earn over $780 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing R rated film of all-time. Until then, studios expected that superhero films had to be rated PG-13 in order to gain a following and become a box office success. Deadpool ended the myth, showing how a solid story could pull in moviegoers, regardless of the rating. Going forward, more studios will feel comfortable taking a risk on edgier comic book retellings.
Despite the success of Deadpool and Deadpool 2, Reynolds hasn’t been able to get past someone leaking his test footage. He expressed his frustration on Twitter, saying that he's now taking over the investigation to find the leaker himself. Take a look:
Needless to say, the post was tongue and cheek, like most of Reynolds’ tweets. Not long after the test footage was released, Deadpool got the greenlight. It was revealed later on that the fan response to the footage was the reason behind the project moving forward. After breaking barriers at the box office, Reynolds went on to start the production company Maximum Effort, named for one of Deadpool’s many catchphrases. The company produced the film’s sequel and is now in the process of creating an R rated Home Alone reboot, titled Stoned Alone.
Whoever leaked the footage is still at large. While Reynolds claims to be on their trail, some fans believe he was the one behind it all along. Others theorize that the footage was secretly revealed by the film’s director, Tim Miller. Regardless of who was responsible, the leak lead to two of the funniest superhero films ever. Reynolds’ Deadpool gave the character (and Reynolds himself) some on screen redemption after the disappointing rendition seen in X-Men Origins. Thanks to the unknown test footage leaker, everyone got a chance to see their favorite foul-mouthed superhero grace the silver screen in the way he was always meant to.
