Following Tim Miller's exit last month, we were concerned about the sequel to this year's R-rated surprise blockbuster, Deadpool. But 20th Century Fox didn't seem to panic at all, as they had already started looking for a replacement director over the next few days. While we had heard of three contenders for the job, they’ve finally closed a deal with one.
According to The Hollywood Reporter and multiple other outlets, David Leitch has been confirmed to helm Deadpool 2. He is best known for co-directing the 2014 action-thriller John Wick with Chad Stahelski and for serving as stunt coordinator and second unit director for numerous projects over the years.
But the Merc with a Mouth's second standalone movie won't be Leitch's first as a solo director. He called the shots for Cold War thriller The Coldest City, which stars Charlize Theron and has already moved into post-production.
David Leitch was suggested as the front-runner for director of Deadpool 2 in the previous reports, too. But the studio also met with some other directors, including Rupert Sanders, Drew Goddard, and Magnus Martens, before making the final decision.
David Leitch – confirmed as director of Deadpool 2! (Photo Credit – Pics of Celebrities)
Now that Leitch has signed on for Deadpool 2, Fox can now focus on another search - the one for a separate director to tackle the unconventional superhero's third standalone movie, which is already in the works. While the second movie will introduce popular mutants like Cable and Domino, Deadpool 3 will assemble the iconic mutant team X-Force.
Deadpool 2 was expected to kick off production in early 2017, but then Miller left and Fox had to search for his replacement. However, we did come across a report suggesting that the studio doesn't want the director's departure to cause any delays; they’re still aiming to head into production in January. Since Leitch has already joined the movie, it wouldn't be surprising to see the cameras start rolling on time.
