Tim Miller Reveals Surprisingly Low Pay for Directing ‘Deadpool’ Despite Its Massive Success

The first ‘Deadpool’ movie was a massive success, launching a billion-dollar franchise that now includes three installments. The film earned $783.1 million worldwide against a budget of $58 million, becoming the highest-grossing ‘X-Men’ film and the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2016.

It made a net profit of $322 million, making it the second-most profitable film of 2016. ‘Deadpool’ also became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time until ‘Joker’ took the record in 2019.

Despite its incredible success, bringing ‘Deadpool’ to the big screen was no easy task. Ryan Reynolds recently hinted that he played a role in leaking the test footage online, which sparked fan demand for the movie. The fact that the movie was an underdog, in turn, had an impact on the pay of the film’s director, Tim Miller.

During a panel in São Paulo, Tim Miller revealed that he was paid only $225,000 for directing ‘Deadpool,’ despite the film’s massive success, grossing over $782 million worldwide. This amount was surprisingly low considering the movie’s huge impact.

Miller expressed pride in being part of ‘Deadpool’s’ success, especially seeing its influence at events like CCXP, with all the Deadpool merchandise. However, he also joked that he wished his director’s deal included a share of the merchandising profits so he could benefit from it.

You know what I feel? Nothing but pride. I mean, I feel like every time I walk down the aisles out there on the floor of CCXP and I see all these Deadpool figurines, I think they wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t made that film. And I feel uniquely fortunate that I could be part of it. Then, then my second thought is, I wish my director deals had a piece of the merchandising so that I could get some money from all of that.

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Miller explained that being a first-time director in Hollywood isn’t as profitable as people might think. He received $225,000 for directing the movie, which, for two years of work, wasn’t much.

While he’s grateful, he pointed out that many people assume all directors are paid millions, but that’s not always the case. He also shared that he never expected to get a chance to direct, especially at the age of 50, after wanting to direct a movie his whole life.

You guys might not know, but it’s not really a profitable thing to be a first-time director in Hollywood, and I’ll tell you exactly. I got $225,000 to direct Deadpool. I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that’s not a ton of money. Not that I’m not grateful, I’m fucking grateful, that’s the way it is because you’re supposed to when you’re a first-time director. My agent said ‘Dude, you make more on an episode of The Walking Dead!’

I think a lot of people think that everyone’s getting paid millions and millions in Hollywood. It’s just not the case, not always. I don’t want to sound like I wasn’t grateful because I had worked, I was 50 when I got a chance to direct Deadpool, and I really thought I wasn’t going to get a chance to direct a movie even though I’d wanted to my whole life

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