Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey, like many, er, romantic films before it, took full advantage of its opportune Valentine’s Day release window with a smart marketing campaign tailored to couples looking to indulge in what cinema has to offer in and around February 14.
20th Century Fox is playing a similar ball game with Deadpool, Tim Miller’s R-rated superhero flick that promises all action and zero foreplay, only from an entirely different angle as the first mock Valentine’s Day poster proved earlier in the week.
[zerg]Centering on the characters of Wade Wilson and Vanessa Carlisle as opposed to their superhero alter-egos, the one-sheets are light and fluffy, promising an alluring tale of romance that is all about the L word. In today’s slew of posters, the Merc with a Mouth returns to form, firing out nine kinds of innuendos left, right and center in a way only Deadpool could.
Truth be told, it’s just another feather in the cap of the brilliant marketing team driving Fox’s superhero flick. Just yesterday, a billboard of emojis was enough to have fans reeling, which Ryan Reynolds has now affectionally named “Skull Poop L.”
Just 29 days til, “Skull Poop L”! pic.twitter.com/Ktpo6eUPAp
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 14, 2016
It was the origins story that never said die and now, almost a decade since Ryan Reynolds was introduced to the gun-toting mercenary on the set of Blade: Trinity, Wade Wilson is headed to the big screen and judging by Fox’s marketing, this is a live-action feature that is going to wear its R rating on its blood-red sleeve with pride.
Deadpool will look to show up Ben Stiller and Co. when Tim Miller’s film opens opposite Zoolander 2 on February 12.