How savvy social media blitz paid off for Deadpool
Fox uses Facebook, Twitter, local comedians, spoofs and pranks in a marketing triumph as its R-rated superhero film breaks box-office records in its genre
Actor Ryan Reynolds was in the middle of filming the hit action-comedy Deadpool in Canada last autumn when he came up with the idea for a viral video stunt. Reynolds, dressed as the foul-mouthed anti-hero, would visit a playground in a Vancouver suburb on Halloween and lecture local youngsters on how to fight crime.
The resulting video caught fire on YouTube, collecting millions of views.
“At first the idea was, ‘Let’s go door-to-door and go trick-or-treating,’ but there were safety concerns,” says Marc Weinstock, president of domestic theatrical marketing at 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the film.
The effort paid off. Deadpool, which cost US$58 million to make, grossed US$150 million in its first four days in the US and Canada – by far the biggest opening ever for an R-rated movie. It was a stunning result for a relatively obscure comic book character – more than doubling analysts’ expectations – and could pave the way for a new subgenre of superhero movies.