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The one thing everyone can learn from the success of 'Deadpool'

deadpool ryan reynolds
20th Century Fox

"Deadpool" had a massive, record-breaking opening weekend at the box office bringing in over $150 million.

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The film, made on a relatively small budget of $58 million, exceeded analyst expectations. Predictions originally called for the film to debut between $55 million to $70 million. Now, it has made over $296 million worldwide.

The film was undeniably a risk. There aren't many R-rated superhero movies, and among those, the highest-grossing one is 2009's "Watchmen" at $185 million worldwide.

"Deadpool" was even riskier because it was a superhero format that hadn't been done before as it follows an unconventional, unabashedly raunchy antihero. In addition to gratuitous violence, Deadpool often addresses the audience, well aware of the fact that he's simply a comic book character living in a comic book world.

However, it was because of that — because "Deadpool" fearlessly was bold enough to tackle and embrace its quirky comic origins head on — that the film succeeded. 

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If there's one thing people take away from the success of "Deadpool," it's that you shouldn't be afraid to take risks on any original idea. 

When I spoke with screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese before "Deadpool" debuted they had been trying to get this film made for six and half years. (The film itself has been in production even longer — over a decade.) I asked them why Fox wouldn't greenlight this film for so long, Wernick said it all boiled down to a fear to take a chance on something different.

"The reason it didn’t get made for the six and a half years that we were involved in it was because of fear, the fear of it being an outlier. The fear of it being an R-rated Marvel superhero movie," Wernick told Tech Insider.

Now, that "Deadpool" has succeeded as an R-rated movie, it paves the way for other R-rated superhero movies. Don't be surprised if you see Fox's upcoming Wolverine film in 2017 to up the ante with an R rating. Some even thought Warner Bros. could consider giving its offbeat summer villain movie "Suicide Squad" the R rating, too. (But it looks like that will probably stick with a PG-13.)

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That sounds like a good thing. 

But as "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn recently pointed out on Facebook, it can also be a negative thing. 

"After every movie smashes records people here in Hollywood love to throw out the definitive reasons why the movie was a hit. I saw it happen with Guardians," Gunn wrote. "It 'wasn't afraid to be fun' or it 'was colorful and funny' etc etc etc. And next thing I know I hear of a hundred film projects being set up "like Guardians," and I start seeing dozens of trailers exactly like the Guardians trailer with a big pop song and a bunch of quips. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh."

james gunn guardians of the galaxy
"Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn. John Phillips/UK Press via Getty Images

"Deadpool wasn't that. Deadpool was its own thing," Gunn continued. "THAT'S what people are reacting to. It's original, it's damn good, it was made with love by the filmmakers, and it wasn't afraid to take risks."

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Don't be surprised if you start seeing Hollywood studios taking advantage of the "Deadpool" model and building off of it to launch films in a similar style.

"So, over the next few months, if you pay attention to the trades, you'll see Hollywood misunderstanding the lesson they should be learning with Deadpool. They'll be green lighting films "like Deadpool" - but, by that, they won't mean "good and original" but "a raunchy superhero film" or "it breaks the fourth wall." They'll treat you like you're stupid, which is the one thing Deadpool didn't do," Gunn concluded.

What's the lesson studios should learn from the success of "Deadpool"?

While, yes, it's a good idea to take risks on original movie ideas, don't just approve films for the sake of replicating Fox's success of the merc with a mouth. Moviegoers are smart enough to know when Hollywood is trying to sell them the same movie twice

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deadpool
Fox, composite by Kirsten Acuna/Tech Insider

I think Deadpool would agree.

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