No more R-rated superhero/tentpole films for WB

[Chewy]

So says the IESB source buried deep into the folds of the Warner Brother's lot. WB is apparently skittish about losing money if a superhero/tentpole film is rated R rather than the more family friendly PG-13.

The biggest superhero film last year (and of all time) was a WB film, The Dark Knight, which grossed $1,001,842,429 worldwide and it was rated PG-13. Iron Man, another big hit last year, grossed $582,030,528 worldwide and was rated PG-13. Everybody took their families to these movies, kids bought the shirts and the toys and the masks etc. which means more money for the studio.

On the other hand, Zack Snyder's Watchmen was rated R and I am sure the fact that it was 2 hours and 40 minutes long also had something to do with it, but it bowed at $55 million opening weekend and then sharply dropped off. You can't take your kids to this one, not sure if you'd even be comfortable watching it with your mother. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it and thought it was a fantastic piece of filmmaking, but it's definitely for adults only. And no kids will be asking mommy to buy them shirts or Rorschach masks from this one.

How much of the movie going market - specifically those that go to see superhero/genre films - is cut out by rating a film R versus a PG-13? Warner Bros. thinks too much and is said to be focusing solely on PG-13 rated superhero/tentpole films only, definitely harder than the "family friendly" superhero films of Fantastic Four but not in the R rated range. Think about it, the movie going audience is "huge", now the genre/superhero movie going audience is a portion of that "huge" and the R rated/genre/superhero movie going audience is an even smaller portion of that "huge." It makes a lot of sense to make the movie for the largest audience possible and still respect the property.

Not that it's a superhero film, but it is a genre tentpole, Terminator Salvation, PG-13 or R? WB wants PG-13, director McG wants R just like the originals. McG was outspoken about the ratings debacle at WonderCon 2009 who said he wants the Moon Bloodgood in the rain topless scene kept in the film. WB wants it nixed to comply with the PG-13 guidelines. This was before the R-rated Watchmen premiered but the studio apparently already had the feeling that PG-13 was the way to go to make the big box office bucks with the genre.

So you can bet your ass Green Lantern and Wonder Woman will be PG-13. However, I've been told Jonah Hex, set for August 2010, is still a go for an R rating however WB doesn't consider it a "superhero" movie per se but a rather a comic book adaptation and not one of their tentpole films.

SOURCE

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I said this was going to happen in the Watchmen forums. Feel bad for the directors/wrtiers cause "father knows best" is in vogue now for the WB.

 

[MadVillainy]

I mean ya an R rated "Superhero" film like Wathcmen would be hard
Cause I know alot of ppl at my school, who didnt know what watchmen was, went expecting to see a superhero movie like TDK or Iron Man. But instead they got this f'ed up blood squirting movie (which I love) so they didnt like it....The thing that went wrong is the promotion. The posters, the fact that it had a video game...made it seem kind of like a generic superhero film.
They shouldve had a large portion of the marketing money that focused on telling ppl "THIS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE SUPERHERO MOVIE"

 

[Majik1387]

Honestly, no other superhero movie from DC or Marvel should be rated "R"

You couldn't have filmed a Watchmen movie, have it PG-13 and have it be as great as the movie was.

 

[Raiden]

I hope that Watchmen's BO performance won't result in Terminator becoming a PG-13 movie, but it looks like it will happen.

 

[BestGirl]

I hope that Watchmen's BO performance won't result in Terminator becoming a PG-13 movie, but it looks like it will happen.

Supposedly the only thing we'll lose if TS goes PG-13 is a topless Moon Bloodgood scene but I think we can do without it.

 

[ClarkLuther55]

This really shouldn't be a big deal; no other big DC superhero should even be rated R. I just hope that the WB doesn't overreact to Watchmen's disappointing box office and decide to go too far in the other direction. The last time they overreacted (to Superman Returns), we almost go the tweeny-bopper Justice League of Australian Mortals.

 

[dude stannis]

Supposedly the only thing we'll lose if TS goes PG-13 is a topless Moon Bloodgood scene but I think we can do without it.

Pathetic that in a Terminator movie they only have to cut one scene with a pair of ******* to make it PG-13.

What other DC comic should be R? They've done Constantine, V and Watchmen already. Sandman, I guess. But that's neither superhero nor tentpole. Superhero movies and fantasy movies don't need to be R. Just the action movies with gun play and even then you can have a couple of exceptions.

All these ratings debates would never happen is the U.S. would use the Australian ratings standards. Raise PG-13 to 15 and let them use blood and f-words. Die Hard and Predator are 15 here, tons of blood and swearing and they're rated the same as most of the bloodless/swearless superhero films.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

Honestly, no other superhero movie from DC or Marvel should be rated "R"

You couldn't have filmed a Watchmen movie, have it PG-13 and have it be as great as the movie was.

This really shouldn't be a big deal; no other big DC superhero should even be rated R. I just hope that the WB doesn't overreact to Watchmen's disappointing box office and decide to go too far in the other direction. The last time they overreacted (to Superman Returns), we almost go the tweeny-bopper Justice League of Australian Mortals.

Agreed.

 

[The Major]

Honestly, no other superhero movie from DC or Marvel should be rated "R"

I disagree. Some properties like Suicide Squad, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight and Daredevil would benefit from an R. The super-hero genre isn't all just PG material, it just depends on the franchise like any other genre. WB should remember that and the fact Matrix was a huge hit despite it being R rated.

You couldn't have filmed a Watchmen movie, have it PG-13 and have it be as great as the movie was.

Agreed.

 

[Majik1387]

I disagree. Some properties like Suicide Squad, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight and Daredevil would benefit from an R. The super-hero genre isn't all just PG material, it just depends on the franchise like any other genre. WB should remember that and the fact Matrix was a huge hit despite it being R rated.

I don't know much about Suicide Squad or Moon Knight, but Ghost Rider and Daredevil wouldn't benefit anymore than they would from a PG-13 rating.

 

[The Major]

I don't know much about Suicide Squad or Moon Knight,

They are definite R rated material. Though SS could make a good PG in the right hands, as long as it still kept it dark tone like Nolan's Batman films did.

but Ghost Rider and Daredevil wouldn't benefit anymore than they would from a PG-13 rating.

GR would benefit since it's in the horror genre. This is a character who deliberately broke every bone in a criminal's body and reset them in awkward positions so it would make it very difficult for him to heal. The edgier it would get the better it would be just like Blade IMO. Daredevil could easily be either R rated or PG.

 

[Heretic]

I'd just like to say that Sandman could ABSOLUTELY be a tentpole film, scoring massive profits in the fall.

 

[Octoberist]

Sorry but Sandman is not a tentpole even less so than Jonah Hex.

And not being a tentle poll is not a bad thing either.

 

[zeptron]

I hope that Watchmen's BO performance won't result in Terminator becoming a PG-13 movie, but it looks like it will happen.

Hasn't Terminator Salavation already been confirmed to have a PG-13 rating?

 

[jmc]

All these ratings debates would never happen is the U.S. would use the Australian ratings standards. Raise PG-13 to 15 and let them use blood and f-words. Die Hard and Predator are 15 here, tons of blood and swearing and they're rated the same as most of the bloodless/swearless superhero films.

Probably would solves some issues if they adopted the same system, for those unaware they Australian ratings system is as follows:
G
PG (Parental Guidance recommended)
M (Recommended for Mature audiences 15 years and over, but not limited too)
MA15+ (Not suited to persons 15 years and under, must be accompanied by a person 15 years or over)
R18+ (Restricted to persons 18 years and over)

Watchmen for instance was rated MA15+ here.

 

[The Guard]

What about JONAH HEX? That doesn't exactly lend itself to PG-13. Nor does PREACHER.

 

[Cain]

Well Hex is neither a superhero movie nor a tentpole it's not like it's being released during winter holiday or during may-july. Preacher I doubt would even be turned into a movie anymore it's just far too niche I forsee a TV series on cable happening before a movie. Either way even if it was released as a film I'm sure it won't be a tentpole it doesn't have that mass appeal and though it's DC published it will be released under the VERTIGO banner like V and Constantine. As we know Vertigo properties aren't exactly mainstream magnets.

It's not like we don't have plenty of R rated films based on DC published material already (A History of Violence, Road to Perdition). What I think this means is that when it comes to superhero movies with the mainstream DC logo attached (Ie: Watchmen, TDK, Superman Returns) they will no longer greenlight any R-rated projects. Now what worries me most about this is the "no R-rated tentpole" thing I mean damn no R even if it's an intense action movie? the recent crappy trailer was my first sign to stay away but this article solidified my not seeing Terminator 4 this summer.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I don't get pepel going into Watchmen expecting anything similar to TDK or Iron Man. Hell, the book's been on shelves for over 2 decades, it's no hidden secret what the story is or what the tone is, it's just people being stupid and ignorant.

Reminds me of when LOTR came out and the first night my buds and I went to watch Fellowship at the end people were *****ing. As if you didn't see that ending coming ... oh right, most people are too dumb to read.

Fact is, I hope it's not the end of R rated superheros from DC, but hey they may go Straight to DVD route for the ones that they think can't fill the seats because of content.

 

[Cain]

I don't get pepel going into Watchmen expecting anything similar to TDK or Iron Man. Hell, the book's been on shelves for over 2 decades, it's no hidden secret what the story is or what the tone is, it's just people being stupid and ignorant.

But you see you're assuming that the majority of the movie going audience is as interested in comic books as we are and the fact of the matter is that they're not. 80% of the movie going population doesn't give a **** about comic books they just want to be entertained. You think people at the gym are wearing Iron Man t-shirts because they grew up on the comic which was always one of Marvel's least popular or because the movie did over 300 million domestic?

Hell look at all those Batman fans that exist who have never and probably never will read a Batman comicbook in their life. So what if Watchmen is 2 decades old that doesn't make it a pop culture landmark or anything, it didn't have any impact outside the comic book and literary world and your average person doesn't venture into those world's anyway. I've owned that book for about 11 years now and my friend just found out it even existed last year when he saw the trailer. Despite the fact that it sits on a bookshelf that the guy has seen hundreds of times in my house.

So you have to think about that for a minute. If you were a person who knew absolutely nothing about Watchmen whatsoever and saw that first trailer what would your POV be? chances are you'd think it's another spectacle filled fast paced superhero movie due to all the money shots and tone of that trailer.

So even though I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I ever would I could seriously understand why your average person wouldn't. It's not the movie that was sold to them at the same time I can't blame whoever cut that trailer for cutting it that way either nobody outside fanboys knows about Watchmen they had to get people talking somehow.

 

[FlawlessVictory]

What about JONAH HEX? That doesn't exactly lend itself to PG-13.

Did you not read the entire article? It clearly states:

However, I've been told Jonah Hex, set for August 2010, is still a go for an R rating however WB doesn't consider it a "superhero" movie per se but a rather a comic book adaptation and not one of their tentpole films.

It's not like we don't have plenty of R rated films based on DC published material already (A History of Violence, Road to Perdition). What I think this means is that when it comes to superhero movies with the mainstream DC logo attached (Ie: Watchmen, TDK, Superman Returns) they will no longer greenlight any R-rated projects.

Exactly, which does not concern me in the least. I see no need for R rated superhero movies.

Now what worries me most about this is the "no R-rated tentpole" thing I mean damn no R even if it's an intense action movie? the recent crappy trailer was my first sign to stay away but this article solidified my not seeing Terminator 4 this summer.

Because seeing Moon Bloodgood's boobs is so essential that T4 will collapse without that scene.

 

[CFE]

The rating depends on the comic material itself.

Properties like "Watchmen" or the "Punisher," "Spawn" and "Ghost Rider" characters could never meet their full potential unless they're 'R'...which is only common sense.

If the comics are 'R' rated, the films should be 'R' rated...if they aren't, then the films aren't.

Seriously, this isn't rocket science.

What this is, unfortunately, is greed talking. What the business of adapting these stories into film SHOULD be about is the idea of retaining faith in the material and not allowing Dollar Signs to obstruct the vision of the given filmmaker.

Whether the film is 'R' or 'NC-17' ... 'PG-13' or 'G' ... It's the filmmaker's vision and the story they want to tell that should dictate it.

 

[FaT_tONle]

As long as film adaptations like Jonah Hex are R-rated then I don't see the huge deal? When are tentpole films ever R-rated? Watchmen was the exception...

 

[Cain]

Because seeing Moon Bloodgood's boobs is so essential that T4 will collapse without that scene.

That has absolutely nothing to do with why I'm not even going to bother with the movie anymore but I wouldn't have minded seeing that if I did t:

What this is, unfortunately, is greed talking. What the business of adapting these stories into film SHOULD be about is the idea of retaining faith in the material and not allowing Dollar Signs to obstruct the vision of the given filmmaker.

CFE you know you're one of my favorite posters on here because you always come through with the common sense. While I do agree with this somewhat because artistic vision is something I greatly value at the same time though I disagree because as great as it sounds it's too unrealistic. Yeah it SHOULD be about that but the point is moot because we know it NEVER will be.

Reason being that Hollywood has been a corporate run industry for over 25 years now so this type of attitude doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Greed is what corporate types live for it is a business and the point of business is to make money first. Remember it's businessmen and stockholders that run these companies not artistry. You can't fault these execs for making a decision like this because it's so detrimental to the bottom line.

 

[CFE]

Oh I know...that's why I said "Should" be. Too bad it never "Will" be; not while we're prey to the conventions of capitalism and all that