Deadpool made it abundantly clear that an R-rated superhero movie can do well, considering it had a shoestring budget and still became the highest-grossing R-rated film. There were even rumors, after Deadpool‘s success, that the recent Suicide Squad reshoots might be to add more humor, although director David Ayer and actor Jai Courtney have both said the reshoots were for additional action sequences.
There was never any plan to make the current Suicide Squad film R-rated, however, as Ayer was tasked with keeping the DC Expanded Universe “consistent” with a PG-13 rating. He recently told MTV, “We were always going to hit the PG-13 rating. But the film is meant to be that. It’s got edge, and it’s got attitude. And it’s got its own voice… There’s a lot in the film that’s going to surprise people.”
But what about the already-confirmed Suicide Squad sequel David Ayer plans to direct? Might DC allow the guy who directed Fury and wrote Training Day to just go whole hog (hog provided by Jared Leto) with the violence and make Suicide Squad 2 an R-rated affair?
“For an R movie, you have to decide to do it right out the gate,” Ayer told MTV, later adding that an R-rated sequel “would be worth lobbying for.”
We’ll drink to that.
