The unlikeliest dark-red horse in this year’s Oscar race is Deadpool, the foul-mouthed superhero movie whose nomination for awards from the Directors Guild, the Writers Guild, and the Producers Guild puts it several steps ahead of previously presumed contenders like Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Star Ryan Reynolds has promised “the world’s most ridiculous reaction video” if the film is actually nominated for an Oscar, but until then, there’s this tongue-in-cheek take on “For Your Consideration” ads, which, like the movie’s off-color satire of superhero movies, not-so-subtly doubles as the real thing.
Sending up the tradition of selling Oscar movies to academy voters by stressing their difficult level, the mock FYC video touts the “600 lbs. of chimichangas” and “four pairs of assless chaps” that went into the production; if you’ve seen Deadpool, you will recognize the tacit assumption that anything involving a reference to butts is hilarious. But then it goes on to reference the real-life difficulty of getting the movie made, the “42 rejection letters from Fox” and the “one leaked video” that jump-started the character’s fanbase and helped rescue the movie from development hell. With a budget of around $60 million and a worldwide gross of over $780 million, Deadpool is a tremendous success story by any standard, but an Oscar nomination would be the unlikeliest success of all.
