Following in the financial success of Deadpool, Logan is about to clear $100 million domestically in its second week in the box office, proving that there is a market for R-rated comic book fare. Fans are responding well the stories the R-rating allows filmmakers to tell, and the critical and financial success of both of these outings haven’t gone unnoticed by other studios, as DC is reportedly open to making more adult oriented movies as well.
It may seem like a newer fad, but R-rated comic book movies are nothing new. Before Marvel Studios, Marvel put out several R-rated movies, including Punisher and Blade, and DC has also already gone beyond PG-13 with Constantine, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition last year, so while it’s currently a hot topic, it’s hardly a new trend.
In fact, DC has also branched into R-rated territory in animation with its adaptation of The Killing Joke. The animated Suicide Squad movie, Assault on Arkham, was also more mature, but that didn’t get the rating bump, serving as more of a “hard PG-13”. According to a recent result on FilmRatings.com, another adult oriented piece of DC animation is on the way with an R-rated “Director’s Cut” of the 2009 Wonder Woman animated movie.
The listing only specifies “some violence” as its reason for the rating, so it’s hard to know what that means, especially in animation. Movie ratings can be a mysterious thing, and as we saw in the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, sometimes simply cutting away a moment later or showing just a little more blood can make all the difference. Again, who knows how that translates to animation ratings, but the original version of Wonder Woman had some pretty violent action, including several beheadings, so it’s hard to imagine how the Director’s Cut will raise that bar.
The re-release of the movie this year is clearly meant to benefit from marketing synergy with the DCEU Wonder Woman film, and it’s also possible it will see a theatrical release, especially after a successful theatrical run of The Killing Joke last year. While the animated adaptation of the famous Alan Moore comic was generally frowned on by fans, it did bring in $4.4 million, despite having an extremely limited theatrical release.There’s no official word on when this new version will be available, but a release prior to when Wonder Woman hits screens in June would seem to be the most sensible choice, as any buzz from the movie (which saw a very positive reception in 2009) could help get audiences hyped for the live-action version.
Culled from Comic Book Movie / Screenrant