‘Father Stu: Reborn’ becomes the new ‘Morbius’ with baffling theatrical re-release

Mark Whalberg’s critical flop Father Stu is getting the Morbius treatment by bafflingly being re-released to theaters within the same year, despite absolutely no one requesting such a thing.

Father Stu: Reborn is not a sequel to the based-on-a-true-story drama that was released back in April, but a PG-13 version of the original that is set to hit theaters on Dec. 9. The original movie about a boxer-turned-priest named Father Stuart Long was rated R and received a pummelling from critics, garnering a 42 percent critical score from Rotten Tomatoes. Despite Father Stu having a more generous audience score, of 95 percent, the film only snagged $21 million worldwide during its initial run, according to Box Office Mojo.

Despite the rocky history in theaters, Father Stu was able to secure three weeks in the Top 10 spot when the movie came to Netflix in September, according to Netflix Top 10. Perhaps it is because of the movie’s popularity on the streaming platform that the film’s producers are attempting to replicate that success at the box office once again.

It wasn’t long before movie fans began to question whether this re-released was another misstep.

Another commentator correctly pointed out that the title Father Stu: Reborn sounds like a way better-sounding straight-to-DVD sequel of the titular character “wielding dual pistols fighting in the name of Christ.”

Another Twitter user imagined James Cameron shaking in terror when he finds out he will have to compete with Father Stu: Reborn.

Only a notorious Oscar Isaac meme from Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker could summarize one person’s thoughts on that matter.

Another Twitter user correctly pointed out Father Stu will be in the rare company of Deadpool with this re-release stunt. Back in 2018, the R-rated Deadpool 2 was re-released in a PG-13 version called Once Upon a Deadpool.

Though it’s been speculated the PG-13 re-cut is an aim to make the movie more digestible for people with religious backgrounds, one writer pointed out they tried to do the same with Passion of the Christ, but even that failed — despite the R-rated version of the Mel Gibson-directed film being a box office smash.

Let the Father Stu: Reborn sweep commence when it hits theaters *again* on Dec. 9.