AceShowbiz - When we hear the name Deadpool today, it's synonymous with box office success and an unmistakable pop culture impact. However, the journey to bring The Merc with a Mouth to cinemas was fraught with challenges and surprising sacrifices.

While the 2016 blockbuster raked in over $782 million worldwide, the road to achieving this was far from straightforward, both for the director Tim Miller and the star Ryan Reynolds.

Tim Miller, making his directorial debut, astounded fans when he disclosed his relatively meager earnings for the film. "I got $225,000 to direct Deadpool," Miller said during a panel at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil.

"I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that's not a ton of money. Not that I'm not grateful, I'm [expletive] grateful, that's the way it is because you're supposed to when you're a first-time director."

Miller's experience reflects the tough realities of Hollywood, especially for first-time directors who have yet to make their mark. Despite his considerable visual effects background, his compensation was modest by industry standards. "My agent said 'Dude, you make more on an episode of The Walking Dead!' " Miller added.

Ryan Reynolds, the film's lead, also faced considerable hurdles. In an interview with The New York Times, Reynolds shared the sacrifices he made to see the film come to life.

"When I finally got to make it, it had been almost 10 years at that point," Reynolds revealed. He went as far as reallocating his own pay to ensure the presence of his co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, stressing the importance of a collaborative creative process. "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 said.

The film's humble budget of $58 million necessitated a focus on character and story over spectacle, which, as Reynolds noted, often fosters creativity. "I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money," he remarked.

Miller's behind-the-scenes struggles were compounded by his departure from the sequels due to creative differences with Reynolds. Nevertheless, Miller expressed nothing but pride over the original film's impact. "Every time I walk down the aisles out there on the floor of CCXP and I see all these Deadpool figurines, I think they wouldn't be here if we hadn't made that film."

Reynolds echoed the director's sentiments, praising the filmmaker, "There is not a human being on earth that worked harder on Deadpool than Tim. He's an incredibly, incredibly talented director."

Despite moving on to other projects like "Terminator: Dark Fate" and the Amazon Prime series "Secret Level", Miller's contribution to Deadpool remains a significant achievement. His tale illustrates the grit and determination required to turn a high-risk project into a monumental success.