As the insane box office returns (and Golden Globe nominations) of Deadpool have shown, there’s definitely an appetite for superhero fare that isn’t PG-13 friendly or Happy Meal compatible. The PG-13 rating can expand a potential audience, but with the right film you can make up the revenue difference and still be bawdy with a big body count. With the GRRRR! THIS IS THE REAL WOLVERINE MOVIE, BUB! R-rated offering Logan set to conquer theaters, a new survey shows that filmgoers have a big appetite for less family-friendly good guys.
A Fandango survey of moviegoers shows strong support for more “restricted” superhero movies. Asking over 1,000 film watching types (read: humans), an impressive 71% of those surveyed told Fandango that they’d like to see more R-rated superhero films. When asked about the prospect of a more violent X-Men film, 84% responded saying that’d welcome such a thing.
How this information will be (if it is) interpreted by assorted studios should be fascinating to watch. We’re not counting on a Spider-Man movie featuring Peter Parker doing full-frontal anytime soon, but maybe DC might see this as an extra nudge to go even darker. Heck, Fox’s Marvel properties that have gone hard R (Deadpool, Logan) are their flagship heroes. Of course, the desire for more R-rated superhero movies is likely predicated on the expectation that they’ll be good. A bust like the last crack at Fantastic Four wouldn’t have benefitted from extra swears and Michael B. Jordan melting enemies in graphic sequences. Ideally, the lesson of this survey is if your superhero/anithero movie is better without PG-13 restrictions, go with the R-rated option. If you don’t have to, don’t strain yourself into edging things up.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
