‘Deadpool’ Director Tim Miller On How Much He Made For 2 Years Of Work: “My Agent Said, ‘Dude, You Make More On An Episode Of The Walking Dead!'”

Tim Miller revealed how much he made as the director of 2016’s Deadpool, his feature film directorial debut.

The filmmaker said in a new interview that it wasn’t “profitable” being a first-time director making the superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds, despite the massive success the Marvel Comics-based film had.

“You guys might not know, but it’s not really a profitable thing to be a first-time director in Hollywood, and I’ll tell you exactly,” Miller told Collider. “I got $225,000 to direct Deadpool. I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that’s not a ton of money.”

He continued, “Not that I’m not grateful, I’m fucking grateful, that’s the way it is because you’re supposed to when you’re a first-time director. My agent said ‘Dude, you make more on an episode of The Walking Dead!’

Deadpool made over $782M at the box office worldwide. Miller told the publication that he feels “uniquely fortunate” to have been part of what became a huge franchise, adding, “Then, then my second thought is, I wish my director deals had a piece of the merchandising so that I could get some money from all of that.”

RELATED: T.J. Miller Is Open To Reprising ‘Deadpool’ Role If Ryan Reynolds Asked Him To: “I Think That Would Be Awesome”

After the success of the first Deadpool movie, a sequel was released in 2018, with David Leitch taking over as the director. After Disney acquired Fox in 2017, the Deadpool character was integrated into Marvel Studios’ MCU, and a third installment of the franchise was released in 2024 with Deadpool & Wolverine directed by Shawn Levy.