“ Madonna does n’t just certify the song , you bang , and peculiarly that Song dynasty has not been licensed . So it was a big deal to ask for it . ”
Getting Madonna to let you use her music is no walk in the park — even if you’reRyan Reynolds.
In a recent panel interviewon SiriusXM, Ryan and Shawn Levy recalled the intense process of obtaining the rights to use Madonna’s 1989 hit “Like a Prayer” in their new movie,Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan andHugh Jackmanas the titular characters.
As they told the story at Hugh’s request, Ryan prefaced his recollection of the “personal meeting” by noting that the Queen of Pop is notoriously selective about granting use of her music — particularly that song, which had a three-week run at the top of theBillboard Hot 100 chart.
“Madonna doesn’t just license the song, you know, and particularly that song has not been licensed. So it was a big deal to ask for it, and certainly, a bigger deal to use it,” Ryan said, recalling that he and Shawn “went over and met with her and sort of showed her how it was being used, and where, and why.”
Fortunately, Madonna handed over the rights to the song, but not without giving her say on how it would be used in the movie.
“She gave a great note,” Ryan said. “My God, she watched it, and I’m not kidding, just was like, ‘You need to do this, this, and this in this moment,’ and damn it, if she wasn’t like spot on and right.”
As luck would have it, the odds were in their favor because one of Madonna’s sons was already a fan of theDeadpoolmovie franchise, which began with the first movie in 2016 and a second in 2018.
Of course, if there’s one thing we know about Ryan, it’s that he’s undoubtedly very dedicated when it comes toDeadpool.
The 47-year-old — who famouslyspent a decadetrying to get the firstDeadpoolmovie off the ground — recalled in a recent interview with theNew York Timesthat he sacrificed his salary on the first movie topay the movie’s screenwritersout-of-pocket.
“I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room,” he explained, recalling that it was “a lesson in a couple of senses.”
Deadpool & Wolverinehits theaters on July 26.
