Deadpool was in many ways a ground breaking film. Everyone expected it to do very well at the box office given its large and devoted fan base (and its brilliant marketing campaign), but few realized it would be such a MEGA hit. Once the dust settled, Deadpool had earned a mammoth worldwide total of $761 million, making it the highest earning R-rated film ever. And now that Deadpool is exiting theaters, Fox is gearing up for its release on DVD and Blu-ray.
I was able to again sit down and speak with Deadpool’s co-creator and comics artist, Rob Liefeld about what we can expect on the Deadpool DVD/Blu-ray as well as the success of the film itself:
My first question is, obviously, with Deadpool coming out on DVD, Blu-ray and such, can you tell us a little bit on what you think or what you know is going to be included?
“In an age with extra features this DVD is packed. I have seen every deleted scene that’s on the film and I think the fans are going to flip – and again, watch them with Tim Miller’s commentary, he comments on each and every one of them and why they weren’t used. That process is always fascinating to me. The commentary tracks have, I think, terrific insight and I think the best commentary tracks with just some guys riffing, and you got Paul [Wernick], Rhett [Reese], and Ryan [Reynolds] on one track and myself and director Tim Miller on the other. So between that and the documentary there’s tons of incentives to get this on the Blu-ray. Since it came out on Tuesday and I got it, I’ve watched it 15 times, it’s a blast I can’t stop watching it. I keep watching it again and again. The bottom line is, it’s a fun movie and it connected and that’s why it was embraced.”
Man, it’s so true. I think that’s part of the reason audiences liked it – it was, it’s just fun!
“That’s what I just said to somebody! The bottom line is it was such a fun movie. And that’s where, you know, it connected and why it was embraced.”
I completely and totally agree. Do you think that Deadpool is the type of movie that would play better on a Blu-ray and in HD or do you think it’s all good like in DVD, Blu-ray, Digital and all that stuff?
“You know what? I hate to tell people what platform is right for them, it will be clear what is on each and seek out what platform is right for them. Again, the best part of social media is I have people talk directly back to you and what works best for them; Blu-ray or DVD, and people have budgetary concerns as well. Bottom line is I love the film and I can access the Apple digital download that has all the extras, but for some reason I want to wait and do the extras on Blu-ray. I’m watching the HD digital and enjoying the movie, because there is so much in the movie to enjoy and like I said, the extra features are definitely a reward for the people who want to get it on Blu-ray. Blu-ray on its own is a better picture. I buy HD and digital HD I don’t want to wait,
I’m different, I’m the perfect consumer. I like to have the film now, then I have to have the disk. Some people like to have one or the other. There are great options out there. To see all the extras features on it, it’s just a blast.”
I do have to agree. I use Netflix, streaming and all kind of stuff, but there is just something special about going to a store, buying a DVD or Blu-ray, putting it in and watching with some popcorn, there’s just something special about that.
“Yes, with Blu-ray on this film it’s a better picture. I buy some digital HD because I’m one of those, I like to get my home entertainment started now. I’m different in that with like Mad Max, Deadpool and Star Wars, I bought them on both platforms. One to get them two weeks early and the other to get the Blu-ray quality. Buying one does not preclude me from buying the other. I know other people are one or the other, so there’s great options out there and when you see all the extra features, the extended scenes, the deleted scenes, and the commentary with the writers it’s just a blast.”
Did you ever expect Deadpool to go on to be one of the top-grossing R-rated films ever? Did you expect that to happen when the movie was about to come out?
“I was on record for being extremely bullish for the prospects, I was told I was not aware of how high those benchmarks were. And I said “No, I think they’re going to do it.” My benchmarks were almost doubled, that’s a lot. To double those benchmarks. So, no. I truly believe the movie exceeded the most optimistic projections. I saw Ryan interviewed at one of the awards shows and I felt like he nailed it the best when he said we knew that the movie would be embraced, but not to the extent that it was embraced.”
It’s very true. Just about everybody loved it, everybody went to see it. Even on my Twitter and everything that I saw, people were going to see it multiple times. Taking friends, family, “Oh you got to come see this with me.” It was an event film.
“Yes. When I have experienced people’s reaction to Deadpool, they love it. There is a warm embrace. My experience comes from my Deadpool wallet, I have a drawer full of Deadpool wallets that had been sent to me. So when I whip it out at the snack machine, I pull it out and they go “Oh my gosh! Didn’t you just love that movie?!” And I’m like “I did! I loved it.” And they’re like “It’s so good!” And again we’re speaking of Deadpool. There’s nothing that connects us other than they see that I have a Deadpool wallet. I’m so happy for all the guys who made the movie, the entire team because, you know, it’s their story that everyone’s embracing and I could not think of a better bunch of guys who worked harder to achieve that connection, so it’s awesome.”
That is awesome! Do you think that with Deadpool being so massively successful both domestically and internationally, do you think that it’s showing that audiences what new original content in superhero movies that they maybe haven’t seen before?
“They’re telling modern stories, but a lot of the characters that they’re exposing to you on that end are still what you would call the Classic Marvel Umbrella that Marvel was built on. They are like the foundational Marvel characters. When you get over in to the Deadpool world, we’re talking about the 90’s. We’re talking about the explosion of comics, and believe you me, I’ve been on the road, I’ve done 19 shows in the last year and these people have such an affection of that time and those characters. And I know two of my contacts over at Fox have told me, we just didn’t know what we were sitting on in regards to the affection people have for these characters. And I think we’re learning. And now it helps ridiculously that the movie is so well made so you can go “Oh yeah Deadpool!” And it’s this A+++ product. But I do believe that there is, it has certainly pulled the curtain back and allowed Fox to exploit it better than ever with the entire X-force catalog.”
I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to speak with me, and I hope we can talk again when your new graphic novel comes out in the fall.
It was great talking with you too, I’d love to let’s make it happen!
