BarcelonaRyan Reynolds may be one of Hollywood’s most successful actors, but he’s becoming a regular in the financial press. with a hidden between $10 and $15 million per film, it doesn’t seem like he has to suffer for the money: according to the magazine Forbes, the Canadian actor raked in over $71 million in 2020 in fees for his performances alone. But unlike other stars of the big screen, Reynolds has amassed a small corporate empire that has allowed him to conduct business operations of some magnitude. The latest, this same month, when it announced the sale of Mint Mobile, its mobile phone company, for $1.35 billion to T-Mobile US, the American subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.
In 2018 Reynolds created the production company Maximum Effort, the first stone of his business holding. Around the same time, the actor made his first investment outside of the audiovisual world with the purchase of a stake in Aviation Gin, a gin brand from Portland, Oregon, which was sold in 2020 to the British multinational Diageo for 610 million dollars. The estimates of the American press point out that Reynolds controlled approximately one fifth of the company, so he entered for the operation about 120 million. In 2019 it already bought Mint Mobile, in which it also had a stake of between 20% and 25%.
The marketing strategy that Mint has followed is the same that Aviation Gin followed with the entry of Reynolds: short ads starring the actor, marked mostly by acid humor and going viral on social media. The funny thing is that he has been able to make them work, even though they are companies from very different sectors and that, in both cases, the appearance of the Hollywood star marked a before and an after in terms of visibility of the brands and, by extension, in the results and value of the two companies.
Caustic humor is also one of the hallmarks of Deadpool, the cynical superhero played by Reynolds himself in a series of films that parodies the franchises of the genre, such as Spiderman or Batman, as well as the actor in his interventions in the media. When asked in an interview with the financial channel CNBC how he manages to have so many businesses and at the same time be one of the most recognized movie stars in the world, Reynolds joked about his lack of time: “This morning I did let my family know that I’m leaving them, because I have a limited number of hours in the day and I can’t do everything – he said in a serious tone – I think the children will be well taken care of, Blake has it under control, “he added , referring to his wife, fellow Hollywood actress Blake Lively.
The short and acid commercials starring the actor have been decisive for the success of the companies involved in Reynolds
The case of Deadpool is the clearest example of Reynolds’ social media control. The Canadian had read the comics and started working on them in 2004, but the film was delayed for various reasons. In 2009 the character of Deadpool appeared in the film X-Men Origins, but without the comedian’s snappy, sarcastic personality, which didn’t sit well with viewers. To top it off, in 2011 Reynolds starred in another superhero movie, green lanternwhich was a critical and box office failure.
The double fiasco raised doubts about the project at 20th Century Fox, which held the rights, but the studio ended up authorizing the filming of preliminary scenes with a budget of less than $500,000, in which the Canadian put the see the protagonist Finally, the film was shelved in 2012.
With Reynolds waiting and convinced the film had potential, in 2014 preliminary scenes were leaked on social media. The enthusiasm of fans of the comic on the networks was of such magnitude that in less than 24 hours 20th Century Fox had already approved the production of the film. When asked who leaked the images, Reynolds draws on his characteristic humor: on one occasion he has denied it in an exaggeratedly vehement way, on another he has said that there is “a 70% chance that it wasn’t me” and on another once he said it had been his mother pressing a button on his computer by accident.
With $787 million collected worldwide, Deadpool it was a box office hit. The reason is the aggressive and innovative marketing campaign in the days leading up to the US release. The ads were multiplied on all internet pages – even on porn portals – and were mainly based on two ideas: making fun of Fox for having refused for years to make the film and that the character protagonist, played by Reynolds himself, criticized Ryan Reynolds for being a bad actor. The icing on the cake was releasing a poster of the movie as if it were a romantic comedy on Valentine’s Day. “Although it would be impossible to do marketing from Deadpool without its title star, Ryan Reynolds, the fact that he’s such an intrinsic part of the promotional campaign helped sell it to audiences,” the magazine stated Forbes.
Viral marketing campaigns are also the mainstay of Mint Mobile’s success, along with low prices in a country, the United States, where the cost of telephony is much higher than in Europe because the market has traditionally been very concentrated in a few companies. “What we do really well is create emotional investment,” which brings “resilience to the brand,” Reynolds told CNBC. “There’s no one between Mint Mobile and the customer, they’ve forged that relationship directly,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile US. Precisely this customer loyalty with the brand is what has interested T-Mobile, which will keep the star plan of unlimited connection with 5G for $15 per month. “T-Mobile allows us to scale – said Reynolds about the operation -. We already use T-Mobile’s towers, it gives us a lot of security for the near future”, said Reynolds.
Reynolds is in and out of business – in 2021 the marketing division of his production company was sold – but his ability to create powerful brands through online advertising means that, once sold, he remains as the image of the company For example, in the case of Aviation Gin it will continue to advertise it until 2030 and T-Mobile has also asked to continue with Mint Mobile.
“A lot of people who come from a position like mine, in the entertainment industry, are looking for aspirational products, whereas our polar star is anti-aspirational products,” he added of the investments that interest his company. In this respect, then, it is a rarity: actors, models or singers tend to do business with luxury products, such as perfumes, clothing lines with haute couture brands, sports cars or wines worth hundreds of euros per bottle, while Reynolds guides his investments by other variables. “Telephony is an essential service that is not provided by the government and that everyone needs, because it has grown to be something that millions of people around the world depend on,” the actor said of Mint Mobile, which seeks to fill this empty “at a cost that is reasonable”.
The actor has bought the oldest football team in Wales, Wrexham
The Canadian performer also has stakes in Match Group – the company that controls dating apps such as Tinder or Match.com – and Canadian investment fund Wealthsimple. But his latest business ventures are in the world of sports. On the one hand, it has become a shareholder of Fubo TV, a platform of streaming specialized in sports. On the other hand, Reynolds bought, together with the American actor Rob McElhenny, Wrexham AFC, the oldest football team in Wales, which plays in the fifth English division. In addition to producing a documentary series about the club premiering on Disney+, Reynolds has publicized the purchase on social media and launched a marketing campaign to sell more merchandise. In addition, he managed to include the club in the video game FIFA 2022 and announced a renovation of the stadium.
As a prank, Reynolds promised a colonoscopy if McElhenny could speak Welsh, which his partner achieved. The two immortalized the operation in a video on their YouTube channel (McElhenny also made one) recorded in collaboration with a foundation fighting cancer.