Finally, Fox has come forward and officially revealed one of the most half-heartedly kept secrets in Hollywood, with Deadline reporting that Fox has confirmed that a PG-13 cut of Deadpool 2 will heading to theaters for a limited run on December 12. Its brief theatrical appearance will end on December 24, at which point Fox can then—presumably—pack it in with a new Blu-ray release of Deadpool 2. It’s all a brilliant scheme to both squeeze a little bit more money out of the hit superhero movie before Fox gets taken over by Disney and to squeeze a little bit more money out of the 13-year-olds who love Deadpool’s rude antics but don’t want to have to see the movie with their (ugh) parents.
Along with the official announcement, Fox has also confirmed some details about the new version of the movie, including the fact that it will be called Once Upon A Deadpool. Note the lack of any reference to Deadpool 2 in that title, despite the fact that this is a re-release of the sequel and not the first movie, but that’s not our problem. We also know that it will be about three minutes shorter than the original R-rated version, and as we’ve previously reported, it’ll be built around a framing device starring (adult) Fred Savage and there will be new scenes with star Ryan Reynolds that were written by original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Apparently, the gag will be that Deadpool has kidnapped Fred Savage and is telling him a kid-friendly version of the Deadpool 2 story as part of an extended Princess Bride reference that teenagers will definitely get.
If this all seems a little desperate on Fox’s part, there is at least a positive catch: $1 of every ticket to Once Upon A Deadpool will go to Fuck Cancer, which will be renamed “Fudge Cancer” for the purposes of this campaign. Of course, PG-13 movies can get away with one f-word if they play it right, but maybe explaining that the organization is actually called Fuck Cancer counts as a “fuck” on its own.