Deadpool Is The Highest Grossing Movie Ever By a First Time Director

Of all the things that come to mind when someone brings up Deadpool, you wouldn’t expect perseverance to necessarily be one of them. Sure things like Sarcasm, Violence, breaking the fourth wall, and Chimichangas make perfect sense, but for Tim Miller the best trait just might be Wade Wilson’s unwillingness to die.

That perfectly describes the process of getting this film made. First time director Tim Miller looks back on the day Fox turned down what would eventually become the final script (via EW)

“Fox told me a number,” Miller recalled while talking about Deadpool with EW last year. He was armed with a commitment from star Ryan Reynolds and a finished, if raucous, script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. “They said, ‘Here’s where the budget needs to be if we’re gonna do this as an R-rated film.’ The number had to start with a four. And then it was up to the point where the senior execs at Fox were looking at it. [Fox chairman] Tom Rothman just said, ‘No. We don’t get it.’ Tom told me, ‘Love your passion but I just don’t care for the script. Don’t get it.’”

5 years later, they would get it, or at least they acted like they did long enough to make some money on it. I would also act like i knew what was going on for 135 million (260 million globally). For a first time director, making any profit would be worth celebrating. Making quadruple your budget in just a weekend, well, that must be even better. In addition to the financial coup, Deadpool is also the highest grossing movie helmed by a first time director. Quite the feather in one’s cap, considering he had to basically hound the studio to even give the film a chance.

The fact that at one point this was pitched as a PG-13 picture isn’t surprising, but fortunately for audiences bolder minds prevailed. With a Deadpool sequel already greenlit, at least this time Miller won’t have to send so many emails.