While, in theory, Fox giving Deadpool an R rating was a risky decision, considering how most R-rated comic book movies usually don’t do nearly as much business as their PG-13-rated competition (e.g. Watchmen, The Punisher), this past weekend Deadpool raked in a massive $132 million at the U.S. box office, proving that mainstream audiences don’t mind it, or perhaps prefer it, when their superheroes are dropping F-bombs and offing enemies in violent and gruesome ways.
Simon Kinberg, who has produced nearly every recent Fox superhero movie, including X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fantastic Four, Deadpool and more, recently hinted at possibly going for yet another R rating for an upcoming X-Men spinoff film. According to Collider, at an exclusive preview screening of Deadpool, Kinberg said, “I think there are some stories that could be R-rated. I don’t know what they are, I mean I think the mainline X-Men movies have their own tone, which is a more operatic tone. It’s more dramatic, it is more PG-13 in a way. X-Force I could see being R-rated, and who knows?”
Comic book creator Rob Liefeld pointed out that Kinberg’s statement doesn’t mean that the film will be R-rated, by any means, just that there’s a chance. The producer then clarified, “I’m saying I could imagine a universe in which [X-Force is R-rated].”
There’s a good chance that Fox is just as surprised by Deadpool‘s huge opening as everybody else, and now is very open to the idea of more R-rated superhero movies, instead of pushing the boundaries of PG-13. The X-Force is already a darker team of superheroes than the X-Men in the comics, so it would be hard to imagine the film staying within the confines of the PG-13 rating, especially if Deadpool were to make an appearance.
Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) was hired to pen the script for X-Force a few years back, and although the film was previously believed to be coming out in 2017, it probably won’t hit theaters until at least 2018.
