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Ryan Reynolds said he "let go of getting paid" for "Deadpool" because he was determined to make the film and used his salary to pay his co-writers.
Now, the franchise is worth over $1 billion, a figure that a film industry analyst told Business Insider the upcoming sequel "Deadpool & Wolverine," out on July 26, could make on its own.
The film partners Reynolds' foul-mouthed mercenary Deadpool with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in an adventure that brings the "X-Men" characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Disney's acquisition of Fox.
Reynolds told The New York Times ahead of the film's release that he didn't get paid for the first installment so the co-writers could be on set to ensure its quality.
"No part of me was thinking when 'Deadpool' was finally greenlit that this would be a success. I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen," he said.
"They wouldn't allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers' room," he added.
Reynolds also acknowledged that many Hollywood blockbusters have huge, inflated budgets, which limit the creativity of the people responsible for bringing them to life.
"I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money. It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie," Reynolds said.
Jay Maidment/20th Century/Marvel Studios
Rob Mitchell, director of theatrical insights at Gower Street Analytics, told BI that "'Deadpool' was seen as a big risk," but said that an actor like Reynolds putting their own money into a movie is "not uncommon."
"They're basically saying, 'I won't take money up front. I am basically putting my money where my mouth is. If it's a success, I make money down the line.' That is not uncommon, particularly with some big-name actors. But it's probably less common in superhero franchises," he said.
Mitchell noted that aside from 1998's "Blade," R-rated comic book movies "were an oxymoron" prior to "Deadpool." But Reynolds' faith in the movie paid off because it proved to studios that a violent comic book movie could work.
According to Box Office Mojo, the first "Deadpool" movie made $782 million worldwide against a $58 million budget in 2016, thanks to the character's signature fourth-wall-breaking humor and well-choreographed, violent action scenes.
The 2018 sequel, "Deadpool 2," was given $110 million to play with and raked in $785 million. So, the billion-dollar franchise was worth Reynolds' initial gamble.
Mitchell also pointed out that this success paved the way for Jackman's bloody 2017 Wolverine movie, "Logan," and Warner Bros.' "Joker" in 2019 — the first R-rated movie to make $1 billion at the box office.
"I think there's a lot of expectation that 'Deadpool & Wolverine' could be the second one to do that," Mitchell added.
