Chapter 257: No Bottom Line Plus No Principles

Under the leadership of a young man named Paul Wilson, Hailey Orbot from "Variety" entered a warehouse located on the outskirts of the small city of Venice. Despite its large size, the warehouse seemed somewhat dilapidated, not resembling the temporary base of a film crew, but more like a scrap collection yard.

Just as Hailey Orbot saw, the warehouse was densely packed with numerous items: costumes, weapons, props, photography equipment, and many people were busy packing these items, seemingly ready to transport them away at any moment.

Before coming here, Hailey Orbot knew that the "Deadpool" crew was about to head to Sydney, Australia, and she guessed she was the last person in North America to interview the crew before shooting.

Despite encountering well-known actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jessica Alba in the warehouse, Hailey Orbot did not stop. Instead, she followed Paul Wilson directly to the front of a temporary office.

Her purpose for being here was clear: to interview the film's director, Murphy Stanton.

The young man in front knocked on the door, and a voice with a slightly hoarse yet magnetic tone said, "Please come in."

The door opened, and Hailey Orbot entered, then saw a tall young man stand up from behind the desk.

"Hello, Miss Orbot," the man greeted politely as Hailey Orbot gently shook his hand, "Hello, Director Stanton."

Meanwhile, her professional sharp eye quickly scanned him, finding him to be a difficult man to describe.

He was very young, appearing to be just over twenty, yet he carried the maturity of a grown man; his smile was sunny, hiding something behind it; his demeanor was refined, but the few scars on his face hinted at a complex past.

Hailey Orbot found it hard to give a specific description or conclusion about him. He seemed like a contradiction embodied.

"Please sit," his voice broke her train of thought, "make yourself comfortable, Miss Orbot."

"Thank you."

With a politely perfunctory smile, Hailey Orbot sat across his desk, deciding to focus on her purpose for visiting. To her, Murphy Stanton was an exceptionally young yet successful director with a bright future ahead.

Pulling out her pen and notebook, Hailey Orbot asked, "Can we start?"

"Of course," the man nodded.

Hailey Orbot looked at the questions on her notebook and went straight to the point, "In the vast Marvel Comics or X-Men universe, Deadpool is not a traditional hero. Why did you choose to make a superhero movie like this? And an R-rated one at that?"

"Deadpool is not a traditional superhero," she raised her head as Murphy Stanton struck a Superman flying pose, "Traditional superheroes are always full of positive energy, but Deadpool seems more like a complete scoundrel, a rogue. Some call him the 'cheapest superhero', always showing his low side. I think he's a very real, very street-level character, closest to the audience."

"R-rated?" Hailey Orbot pressed, "Don't you think it's too risky for a superhero movie?"

"Do you know Deadpool?"

Before she could answer, he gave his own, "Deadpool's abilities are well-known, unkillable to the point of being perverse; a chatterbox, annoyingly verbose, no one wants to be too close; works for whoever pays more, notoriously unreliable; arch-enemy of Wolverine; knows he's a comic character, often breaks the fourth wall, making fun of the writers; likes to wander around, often intruding into other comics causing chaos; though dressed like Spider-Man, he's stronger than Wolverine but completely lacks responsibility."

"Many villains in movies aren't as outrageous as Deadpool. But, undeniably, he's interesting, possessing both a superhero side and a whimsical side." He spread his hands, "Such a character, without an R-rated movie, how could it be portrayed? Plus, this is a movie made for adults. Hollywood has made too many juvenile superhero movies in recent years. Adults need superheroes too, everyone has a hero dream, and this is a more realistic superhero movie for adults."

Noting down his words, Hailey Orbot added a comment — clear goal, mature concept!

"What about the box office?" she looked at him, "There hasn't been a successful R-rated comic book movie. This movie sets a record for your Hollywood career, with a production budget of $60 million. If it performs like your previous films, it might be hard to recoup the investment."

Hailey Orbot intentionally asked, "Do you really think there's a market for a large-scale superhero movie?"

"Yes, I do." His voice was filled with confidence, "I firmly believe this movie will gross over one hundred million dollars in North America!"

"What if it fails?" she continued.

His response was calm, "My directing career would suffer a major setback, and I might not be hired for high-budget films in the future."

Hailey Orbot quickly wrote in her notebook: Either revolutionize the box office, or be revolutionized by it!

In the following interview, Hailey Orbot steered the conversation towards personal aspects of the director, digging into some gossip before leaving satisfied, ready to write a report attractive enough for the editorial department.

This was an exclusive interview arranged by 20th Century Fox, and Murphy was well aware of this, so he cooperated fully throughout.

Often, how well a movie is made is the director's concern, but the success of its launch also heavily depends on marketing.

For "Deadpool," Murphy wished for marketing to be as comprehensive as possible, suggesting to 20th Century Fox to adopt marketing strategies that matched Deadpool's character, including some unconventional and unprincipled methods.

The importance of online promotion for a movie has been proven by numerous examples in recent years. From the initial planning phase, 20th Century Fox adopted Murphy's suggestions, using a cross-platform approach with digital media, print media, and television to strongly promote the film.

Following the plan, from Robert Downey Jr.'s blog post of Deadpool's costume fitting photo, 20th Century Fox focused on online media, animated gifs, outdoor billboards, videos, and public service advertisements, using various means.

Unlike previous Hollywood commercial movies, where advertisements were ubiquitous, R-rated movies were restricted by North American laws from such widespread advertising.

20th Century Fox, being a mature production and distribution company, settled on a strategy of "promoting the character image without detailing the plot" early on, decisively leveraging its strengths to produce a vast amount of TV, digital, print, blog, and online promotional content for the not child-friendly character of Deadpool.

The bulk of all promotional materials focused on introducing the Deadpool character, portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., to the American audience without revealing the film's explicit content.

As Deadpool's actor, Robert Downey Jr. also went all out, frequently appearing in various media with Deadpool's mischievously charming face. Murphy had Philip Lashley's photography team take countless photos and videos for him to post on his blog.

Moreover, Robert Downey Jr. participated in numerous promotional events for the film.

Since signing the contract to play Deadpool, he has been promoting this "atypical" superhero to fans and followers in various ways.

Before leaving Los Angeles, Murphy specially arranged for a few child actors to film a two-minute Halloween promotional special with Robert Downey Jr., which 20th Century Fox then distributed to many cinemas, TV stations, and online media during Halloween.

At the end of October, when North America celebrates Halloween, many stars visit friends and dress up in holiday costumes for fun. How could Deadpool, known for his pranks, miss out? That night, Robert Downey Jr., not sparing any effort, donned the Deadpool costume again to visit the community, leading mutant children in celebrating the festival.

However, this world-saving endeavor was highly unreliable.

Though claiming to save the world, Deadpool is not a role model. After ridiculing the children around him, he gets angry and retorts when his past of drug use and jail time is brought up. The entire teaching process is filled with swearing and physical punishment. This superhero, with inherent censorship and silence effects, further solidified his "not suitable for children" image through this promotional video.

This is definitely not a Hollywood commercial film plagued by severe homogenization. Murphy knew that for this film to succeed, it had to have its unique traits. The entire creative team, during the filming and production process, needed to embrace a deep love for the project and not be afraid to take risks.

With this mindset, he led the entire crew to Sydney, Australia, ready to start filming "Deadpool" in the Fox Studios after setting up the scenes.

Since everything was proceeding as planned, Cara Fes also brought the latest news from 20th Century Fox when she arrived later: they had confirmed the release date for the film.

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