In the wake of the massive success of "Deadpool," many other films (mostly superhero movies, a la "Logan") have decided to also jump into R-rated waters. Is this transition going to have an overall positive impact on the industry, or is it just a needless aping in an attempt to make lightning strike twice?
Intriguing topic, considering how often films have wanted to avoid an R-rating for the purpose of appealing to a much wider audience. Defining what "positive" means in relation to the film industry will be key. Does that mean more profits? Better content? Should super heroes be adult themed? What kind of effect does that have on the younger audience, specially if they can't view these films without parental consent? – mazzamura8 years ago
Interesting topic. Although I don't think filmmakers coming out with R-rated films (or deliberately aiming to receive R ratings) is really anything new, since the R rating has been around and in popular use for a long time ... unless you mean to specifically focus on R ratings in superhero movies? – OBri8 years ago
I suppose the heart of this issue is that they are limiting the potential of an entire demographic (i.e. children) from being patrons to these films. Traditionally, children have been the primary audience for superhero movies, with even more profits coming from the expansive merchandising than the box office. However, when filmmakers pander directly to the action-figure market, we wind up with Schumacher's Batman movies. Since circa 2005 to 2008, when Nolan revived Batman with a gritty, semi-realistic reinvention of the character that was most certainly not targeted toward children (regardless of whether or not they saw and enjoyed it), it inspired a more adult-oriented trend in the superhero genre. Deadpool, then, took this further by replacing the darkness and brooding with raunchy comedy, thereby expanding the market in a new direction. Time will tell whether this newfound adult audience will be sustainable enough to compensate for all of the children being excluded by these R-ratings. This shift in demographic targeting should make for a worthy investigation. – ProtoCanon8 years ago
I think it should also be noted these rated R movies are only succesful because the material itself where it originates from is for a matured audience, so it really depends on what kind of material is being adapted to a R-rated film and whatever the material has a loyal audience. – cgclass8 years ago
I think the key will be content. Are movies adding unnecessary additions just to get the R-Rating? Or does the content actually call for it (such as Deadpool)? – alijulia878 years ago
It may be worth noting the reason for the rating? I find myself somewhat skeptical when a movie I thought would be rated R is, in fact, PG-13. I worry that the film will be limited by that rating, that something which should indeed be gruesome, adult, serious, or otherwise "mature" will be watered for the sake of potentially young viewers. In that case, it borders censorship. But, I also find the notion of making a movie rated R, or incorporating uselessly ostentatious deaths without true benefit to be equally as unsettling. – Josh8 years ago