Superhero sequels always up the stakes for the protagonists.
B.C.-shot Deadpool 2, meanwhile, is also upping the stakes for the province’s film sector.
The original film, which followed the eponymous foul-mouthed mercenary with super-healing powers, spent $40 million of its budget in B.C., according to 2016 estimates from the Motion Picture Association – Canada (MPAC).
But the follow-up has had more than double the economic impact of the original, based on numbers offered by B.C. Premier John Horgan.
“Deadpool 2 not only brought Ryan Reynolds back home but spent over $100 million in British Columbia and created thousands of jobs,” Horgan said in a statement Tuesday (May 22).
The investment is paying off for 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced the US$110-million action flick.
Over the weekend Deadpool 2 raked in US$125 million at the North American box and another US$175 million overseas, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
And aside from the abundance of money spent on visual effects or actors’ salaries, the MPAC noted the production spent millions on products and services from local vendors.
Citing data from Twentieth Century Fox, the MPAC said money spent on local businesses included more than $2 million on construction supplies, $2 million on transportation and car rentals, $1.4 million on catering and craft services, $1.4 million on hotels, $900,000 on local wardrobe and dry cleaning and $500,000 on gasoline.
Meanwhile, the MPAC said Deadpool 2 employed 3,700 local cast, crew and extras over the 80 days it filmed in B.C.
