First Madonna personally dropped by to show Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy how to use her 1989 hit “Like a Prayer” in their film. Then, on Monday night (July 22) in New York, the pop superstar made a surprise appearance at the movie’s premiere, walking the red carpet in her inimitable high-fashion style alongside twin eleven-year-old daughters Estere and Stella.
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Madonna wore a short black blazer dress with matching ankle boots and sunglasses while her daughters both rocked oversized white jerseys, with Estere accessorizing her look with maroon pants, white sneakers and a matching headband, while Stella went for dark wash bell-bottom jeans and a white scarf tied around a robin’s egg blue baseball hat. Check out a picture of the singer with Reynolds, co-star Hugh Jackman and director Levy here.
The drop-in was not a total surprise, as Madonna’s 1989 hit “Like a Prayer” is featured in a remixed form in the film after director Levy got her personal permission to use the song in the threequel. In a recent interview with Jess Cagle on SiriusXM, Reynolds described how he, Levy and Jackman convinced Madonna to let them use the song.
“It did involve a personal visit to Madonna, where we showed Madonna the sequence where ‘Like a Prayer’ would be used,” Levy explained. “Also, let’s preface it with the fact that they don’t license — that Madonna doesn’t just license the song, particularly that song,” Reynolds added. “It was a big deal to ask for it and certainly a bigger deal to use it. We went over and met with her and and sort of showed her how it was being used, and where, and why.”
Not only did Madonna agree to let them use the song that spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, but Reynolds revealed she gave some helpful notes as well. “She watched it, and I’m not kidding, [she said], ‘You need to do this.’ And damn it, if she wasn’t like spot on,” Reynolds said. “We literally went into a new recording session within 48 hours to do this note,” Levy said. “It made the sequence better.”
Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters on Friday (July 26).