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Sometimes people know a movie is going to be a big hit no matter what the reviews say or even what people are saying online. It’s a forgone conclusion that if Ben Affleck directs a Batman movie, it’ll open to huge money around the world. Same with any Star Wars movie. But when director Tim Miller’s Deadpool opened almost a year ago, no one had any idea the film would go on to make almost $800 million at the worldwide box office, be the highest grossing X-Men film ever, or get nominated for tons of awards like Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director from the Directors Guild of America, a PGA Award and even a Writers Guild of America for Adapted Screenplay! 20th Century Fox and the filmmakers were just hoping to crack $40 million opening weekend and earn enough money for a sequel. Deadpool’s success shows what can happen when something hits at the right time and all the people involved hit a home-run.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Even though Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are really busy writing Deadpool 2 at the moment, we managed to get them into our Collider Video studio a few days ago to talk about the success of the first film and where the character might go next.

During the wide-ranging conversation they looked back at Deadpool’s opening weekend and discussed the film’s unexpected place in the awards race, where they’re at in the pre-production process on Deadpool 2, how the hiring of David Leitch to direct the sequel has impacted the film, the action scenes, collaborating with Ryan Reynolds, how Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead will return in the sequel, the challenge of writing Cable, laying the foundation for an X-Force movie, the budget, and more. In addition, they also talked about the status of Cowboy Ninja Viking, the challenge of making Life, a film that takes place entirely in zero gravity, and why people should see Split as soon as possible.

Check out what they had to say in the video above and below you can find a time index of everything we talked about. If you’re looking forward to the Deadpool sequel, I’m very confident you’ll enjoy this interview.

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick:

  • 0:56 – Looking back at Deadpool’s opening weekend.
  • 3:03 – Why they’re not worried about backlash.
  • deadpool-2-ryan-reynolds-brianna-hildebrand
    Image via 20th Century Fox
    3:37 – The awards recognition the film has received.
  • 6:37 – Where they’re at in the pre-production process on Deadpool 2.
  • 7:33 – How the hiring of David Leitch to direct has impacted the film.
  • 9:19 – How Leitch is bringing his unique stamp to the action scenes.
  • 10:30 – Collaborating with Ryan Reynolds.
  • 11:50 – The freedom the studio has provided on the sequel.
  • 12:33 – The return of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
  • 13:05 – The challenge of writing Cable.
  • 14:48 – Laying the foundation for X-Force.
  • 16:32 – The guiding principles behind a Deadpool movie.
  • 17:38 – The freedom to use any character from the ­X-Men universe.
  • 19:32 – While they have the ability to go bigger, they don’t want to be bigger just because.
  • 20:26 – The status of Cowboy Ninja Viking and why people should see Split as soon as possible.
  • 21:35 – The challenge of making Life, a film that takes place entirely in zero gravity.
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Image via Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via Ryan Reynolds