Ryan Reynolds Finds 'Life' On Mars With 'Deadpool' Scribes

You've got to hand it to Ryan Reynolds for sticking around as long as he has. His resume is littered with expensive stinkers that might've sunk a less talented or less charismatic actor, from X-Men Origins: Wolverine to Green Lantern to R.I.P.D. But not only has he managed to bounce back each time, he's hotter than ever this week thanks to the record-breaking success of Deadpool.

So now that Deadpool has put him back at the top of everyone's most-wanted list, what's his next move? Apparently, reuniting with some of the folks who made Deadpool happen in the first place. And we're not just talking for Deadpool 2. He's joining forces with Deadpool screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese for Life, a sci-fi adventure also starring Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation breakout Rebecca Ferguson. Daniel Espinosa, who previously worked with Reynolds on Safe House, is directing. 

Deadline broke news of the Ryan Reynolds Life casting. The original script by Wernick and Reese, whose other credits include Zombieland and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, is described as a "big-scale film" about a crew aboard the International Space Station. They retrieve a sample from Mars and discover signs of life, but the trouble begins when it proves far more intelligent than they bargained for. Skydance's David Ellison and Dana Goldberg will produce with Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn. The film hasn't locked down a studio yet, but it's expected to wind up at Paramount.

Reynolds didn't book the role as a direct result of Deadpool's success. He was already in talks before that became the little R-rated superhero movie that could. But there's no question that Deadpool has given him, and therefore Life, a big boost. Reynolds has done strong work in smaller movies like Buried and the more recent Mississippi Grind, but it's been his bad luck that some of his most high-profile projects have also been some of his biggest misfires. Deadpool worked in a huge part because it felt like the role Reynolds was born to make. But hopefully Life will remind people that there's more to Reynolds than the Merc with a Mouth, too.