When we first reported that Robert Rodriguez was being offered the director’s chair for “Deadpool” back in June, it felt like a longshot to us at the time. Rodriguez has a lot of irons in the fire and pet projects that seemed more likely as potential directing gigs, and our doubts seemed to be confirmed when at Comic-Con last weekend he seemed unsure if he would take the job saying, “They sent me a script to read, [but] I’ve been really swamped with this other stuff. I’ve not decided whether … anything I do would be after ‘Spy Kids’ — that gives some breathing room. So whether or not I would help develop or not is the question right now.”
Well, it seems that Rodriguez was being a little bit cagey as the LA Times now reports that 20th Century Fox and Rodriguez have gone from merely shooting the shit, into actual negotiations. Those talks are apparently in early stages, and a number of deal points need to be hashed out, but it would appear that if the contract ends up being to his liking, Rodriguez will ink a deal.
While we’re not thrilled at Rodriguez directing a comic tentpole (how about “Nervewrackers” instead?) it seems clear that Fox have been pleased at his ability to deliver big action films on the cheap (“Predators” cost $40 million; the upcoming “Machete” is in the ballpark of $20 million) and are probably keen on boosting their spinoff franchise by hiring someone who has oodles of geek approval.
It remains to be seen if Rodriguez and the studio can find common ground to work on. If Rodriguez takes the helm, the film would come after he completes work on “Spy Kids 4: Armageddon.” Enticingly, the movie has a script by Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick (“Zombieland”) and frankly, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool was only good thing to come out of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” so it could potentially be a fun antidote to the generally ponderous comic book genre.