A closer look

Fox Studios was so terrified of an R-rated superhero movie that they nickel-and-dimed the production into oblivion. They refused to pay the film's writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, to be on set during shooting—a standard practice for adjusting dialogue on the fly. Ryan Reynolds, desperately trying to protect his passion project, literally opened his own wallet and paid their salaries out of pocket. It paid off, mostly because Fox executives have the foresight of a blind bat.