What a great time to beRyan Reynolds. The guy has been churning outconsistently terrific work for years, only to find the kind of massive box office success of his peers elusive. That is untilDeadpoolopened this past weekend andshattered records left and right, not only leading to the biggest hit of Reynolds’ career, but one of the biggest hits of the modern superhero movie era. So now Reynolds finds himself in the unique position of not just being in demand, but beingin demand. Which leads to the question, what will he do next?
Well it’s possible his next big project is something he’s been circling since before theDeadpoolnumbers came in, as Deadline reports the actor is in talks to reteam with hisSafe HousedirectorDaniel Espinosaon a sci-fi picture calledLife. The story revolves around a manned mission to Mars that finds intelligent life. The most exciting aspect of this particular project?Mission: Impossible – Rogue NationbreakoutRebecca Fergusonis attached to star as wellandit boasts an original screenplay fromDeadpoolscreenwritersRhett ReeseandPaul Wernick, whose passion and persistence (along with directorTim Millerand Reynolds) helped finally getDeadpoolmade following years of pushback from 20th Century Fox.
Skydance’sDavid EllisonandDana Goldbergare producing the film, which is expected to be distributed by Paramount. It’s interesting to see Reynolds teaming up with Espinosa again, as the filmmaker has yet to really capitalize on the surprise box office success ofSafe House. He signed onto a number of films in that movie’s wake, but thus far onlyChild 44materialized, and that movie was dumped by Summit despite a solid cast ofTom Hardy,Gary Oldman, andNoomi Rapace. With the red-hot Reynolds and Ferguson, plus the selling point of “from the writers ofDeadpool,” this could very well be Espinosa’s comeback of sorts.
No word on how quicklyLifewill come together, but I imagine Paramount will want to strike while the iron is hot. Ferguson is currently filming the dramaThe Girl on the Trainandmay very well return forMission: Impossible 6, which is expected to start filming later this year withChristopher McQuarriereturning to direct. As for Reynolds, Fox is no doubt working overtime to getDeadpool 2ready as quickly as possible, which I imagine could get in front of cameras as early as late this year or early 2017. Good on you, Reynolds.
