(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman attend the UK Fan Event of Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at Eventim Apollo, London on July 11th, 2024. Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited.
Preview:
- Ryan Reynolds is developing a new comedy about a boy band.
- He aims to have Hugh Jackman co-star.
- ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ director Shawn Levy would co-produce and potentially direct the movie.
The gigantic success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (it earned more than $1.3 billion at the box office this year and is already racking up plenty of views on Disney+) means that Ryan Reynolds should have carte blanche to do whatever he wants next.
Mostly what he appears to want to do is take a break –– at least as much as someone as busy as Reynolds, with his various marketing efforts and other companies, not to mention a wealth of potential new movies can be –– and spend more time with his family.
But there are still movies that he wants to make and in a new, wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he references one that originally cropped up last year, the story of a boy band.
Related Article: Ryan Reynolds Scripting New Movie to Re-Team With Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy
What’s the story of the Ryan Reynolds boy band movie?
Ryan Reynolds attends the UK Fan Event of Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at Eventim Apollo, London on July 11th, 2024. Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited.
Right now, much of the movie is a mystery –– we don’t know exactly what aspect of the boy band life would be featured.
But given that Reynolds is looking to reunite with his friend and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ co-star Hugh Jackman on the new movie, we can imagine something catching up with the former members of a boy band group who have since gone their separate ways.
The Netflix TV series ‘Girls5Eva’ covers similar territory, albeit from the point of view of a girl group.
This is what Reynolds told the Reporter about the project:
“I’m on a second draft. The first draft was incredible and written by one of my favorite writers, Jesse Andrews [‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’]. Now I’m on my lonesome. There are no dates or anything just yet. I’m not filming anything for at least a year. This feels like it needs to have an extremely modest budget, and one that wouldn’t be all about going to pay above-the-line actors. Shawn, Hugh and I are open to creative ways to make this movie at an absolute bargain.”
And this was his quote about the trouble with boy bands:
“A lot of members of boy bands — and there are a lot of them — had managers who left them high and dry. They experienced levels of fame that would be very difficult for anyone to navigate, let alone an adolescent, when you are farming out your self-worth to an audience of screaming people. It creates a kind of arrested cultural development. They’re forever associated with that period of time in their lives. This would be about people in their 40s and 50s trying to get their lives back. I think there is something beautiful about that. The north star for me as a producer is joy. I feel like cynicism is a contracting industry and doesn’t have a great shelf life.”
Who else would work on the new movie?
(L to R) Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy, and Ryan Reynolds attend ‘The Adam Project’ World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall on February 28, 2022 in New York City. Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Netflix.
While it appears Reynolds is now solely writing the movie himself, there’s a chance he could collaborate down the line with others again.
And from the sounds of it this is being seen as a potential ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ reunion in more ways than one, since director/producer Shawn Levy, who wrangled that giant superhero movie to life with Reynolds, is also likely to be involved as a producer and, potentially, director.
Levy makes sense, since he’s formed a close working bond with Reynolds following ‘Free Guy,’ ‘The Adam Project’ and now ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ though like his colleagues, he’s also someone who has a packed schedule.
Still, given that it sounds like the boy band project is a ways away, all three could carve out some future time to work on the movie. While Paramount is still apparently involved in the new film, it’s far too early to speculate on when it might hit theaters.
Talking of the more recent Deadpool outing, there has naturally been speculation that Wade Wilson and Logan could return for the two new ‘Avengers’ movies that will be headed our way in 2026 and 2027…
Will Deadpool show up in the new ‘Avengers’ movies?
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.
Reynolds plays it coy in the Reporter interview when asked about a potential return for Deadpool.
This is what he had to say:
“There are no updates to share just yet. But I trust Kevin and [Marvel exec] Lou D’Esposito with my life. The character trait I love most about Deadpool is that he’s a fanboy. His enthusiasm and longing to be part of a team is really endearing to me. It’s his overarching wish-fulfillment story. But I don’t think he should ever be an Avenger or an X-Man. I think Deadpool works so well appearing with the X-Men and Avengers, but he always needs to stay an outsider. His ultimate dream is to be accepted and appreciated. But he can’t be accepted. His coping mechanism of deflecting shame through humor works only when used to pave over his many inadequacies. If and when he does become an Avenger or X-Man, we’re at the end of his journey.”
(L to R) Director Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman from ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Photo: Marvel Studios.