Nicole Kidman has reigned supreme at movie theaters since 2021, when she and AMC revealed an instantly meme-able spot for “We Make Movies Better,” which urged consumers to return to theaters in the wake of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
Now, another topic of utmost concern to exhibitors might be getting some high-wattage star treatment: those darn people who won’t silence their cellphones when a movie is playing.
Last week, Marvel and Disney screened a spot that certainly felt like an in-theater PSA of sorts as part of its Deadpool & Wolverine presentation at CinemaCon.
The spot began with Deadpool telling Wolverine about his theories for Secret Wars, a reference to Marvel Studios’ upcoming crossover movie, Avengers: Secret Wars. But every time Deadpool began to say what he’d heard will happen in the movie, a cellphone rang and interrupted him.
Eventually, Wolverine had enough — and addressed the camera directly, flinging (bleeped) F-bombs at the audience and making a rather crude reference to how this was a movie theater, not “your grandma’s nursing home.” Wolverine only stopped after Deadpool calmed him down.
One source says the spot shown at CinemaCon is indeed intended to play in theaters, but the Marvel/Deadpool team is maintaining radio silence for now.
Deadpool and Wolverine previously enjoyed some big screen synergy with a spot that played in theaters ahead of 2017’s Logan, the feature that was intended as Hugh Jackman’s swan song to Wolverine. In the spot, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool witnessed a robbery in progress, and went into a phone booth to change into his costume. But by the time he changed, the robbery victim was dead. Afterwards, Deadpool mentioned that Logan probably would have saved the man, and proceeded to speak in an Australian accent, a nod to Jackman’s natural speaking voice.
One thing is certain — Reynolds’ foul-mouthed Deadpool is having quite the effect on Disney executives as they prepare to release Marvel Studios’ first R-rated movie. Sony Pictures’ chief Tom Rothman is infamous for using the F-word on stage at CinemaCon. But Disney? Never, or least not until now.
“Deadpool & Wolerine is fucking awesome. And the reason I can say that … is that it’s an R-rated movie,” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige declared on stage (he uttered the expletive two more times). Director Shawn Levy also dropped the F-bomb.
Disney global distribution chief and presentation emcee Tony Chambers also got in on the action, but saved his F-bomb for Alien: Romulus when recounting how original Alien director Ridley Scott described the director Fede Alvarez’s upcoming film. “Ridley said, and I quote, ‘It’s fucking great.” As an Irishman, though, Chambers decided to revert to the Irish version and use the the word “fecking.”
Barry Jenkins caught the bug, too, when talking about his December family movie Mufasa: The Lion King. “This is a massive fucking film,” he said. “And it was my job to fill it with massive heart.”
As the mild-mannered Chambers explained those F-bombs minutes earlier, “Apologies, but I’ve been corrupted too.”