Ryan Reynolds’ Production Company Signs Film Deal at Paramount

Variety.com: Ryan Reynolds’ production company, Maximum Effort, has signed a three-year, first-look deal with Paramount Pictures.

The pact reunites Reynolds with longtime executive partner Emma Watts, Paramount’s motion picture group president, and studio CEO Jim Gianopulos. The deal will cover development for all Maximum Effort feature projects across all budget scales.

“We are so happy the next chapter of Maximum Effort will be written at Paramount. The ‘Deadpool’ movies would never have happened without Jim Gianopulos and Emma Watts and personally, I’ve come to rely on Emma’s incredible insights and instincts,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Moviegoing deserves a comeback and we’re excited to help make it happen with Jim, Emma and the rest of the Paramount team.”

Reynolds founded Maximum Effort with George Dewey (“Free Guy,” “Don’t”) in 2018, following their collaboration on the first two “Deadpool” films, which launched him into the stratosphere of superhero stardom after a successful run in mid-budget feature comedies.

“Ryan is 100% committed to entertaining the audience and works tirelessly to do so. His company is aptly named, and I’m thrilled to have Maximum Effort in the Paramount fold,” Watts said.

Reynolds has quite a few projects in the can set for release as theaters reopen, including: Disney’s “Free Guy,” which was shepherded under Watts at 20th Century Fox; “Red Notice,” a starry art-heist thriller with Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot; the sci-fi adventure “The Adam Project” at Netflix; the imminent “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard”; and a return to the character Wade Wilson in Marvel’s “Deadpool 3.”