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What Does Deadpool’s Success Mean For Future R-Rated Superheroes?

Consider Deadpool, and its much-feted ‘hard-R’ rating. The mainstream media has been falling over itself to generate headlines about the groundbreaking nature of this latest entry into the superhero movie genre, but the reason for its success is not solely its rating. Deadpool is, indeed, a unique character, but this is not the first R-rated superhero film. Nor is it the first R-rated film about a Marvel character. It’s not even the first R-rated film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because Deadpool is not a part of that franchise – he’s a 20th Century Fox guy, like his X-Men associates.

Budgets

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So, the theory goes something like this. The higher the expected box office haul, the more generous a studio is able to be with a film’s budget. The target audience is a huge factor in that decision-making process. For example, if a film is expected to target an NC-17 rating, it makes good economic sense to keep the budget as low as possible, because the audience will be smaller. A film designed for a G or PG rating will be accessible for all, but will likely appeal mostly to children and families (unless it’s a Pixar movie), so budgets can be bigger – but again, tend toward the conservative end of the scale.

With this pattern of investment, PG-13 is where the real money resides and, consequently, that is where superheroes also tend to land for studios. It is the budgetary-ratings sweet spot at the confluence of potential audience size and exhibitor interest. It is where filmmakers can tell stories with some challenging, dramatic themes, and lots of action, while still remaining potentially accessible to all.

The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe – arguably the current market leader when it comes to the superhero genre – has a PG-13 rating, as does The Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan, and the eight films of the X-Men franchise. The forthcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice will have a PG-13 rating – as Man Of Steel did before it – and the rest of the DC Extended Universe is expected to follow suit.

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This has meant that, in terms of budget, these superhero franchises have had a lot of resources to play with. Christopher Nolan’s franchise opener, Batman Begins, had a budget of $150 million, for example, while The Dark Knight Rises had $250 million. That is, perhaps, unsurprising for such a popular character with an already solid fanbase, but consider the cinematic introduction of Iron Man, at a cost of $140 million, or Thor at $150 million, and it becomes clear that the PG-13 label eases budgetary constraints while almost guaranteeing a wide theatrical opening.

It could be argued that one of the consequences of throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at superheroes in the PG-13 category has been the homogenization of these movies. Each franchise instalment can indulge in spectacular special effects and apocalyptic explosions – all to the upper-most boundary that the PG-13 label will permit. Much more is possible with $250 million at your disposal, but in many ways, the result is that they all ultimately look and sound similar.

R-rating, by contrast, with all the budgetary caution employed on the part of studios for films destined for that category, often pushes filmmakers to be a little more creative. With less funding, they must find ways to make their movie look as impressive as their $250 million counterparts, in order to be competitive in a superhero-packed market-place. Kick-Ass, for example, was made for $30 million, and Punisher: War Zone for $35 million.

Zack Snyder’s Watchmen was relatively expensive for an R-rated film, with a budget of $130 million, but this in particular is a remarkable technical achievement, even at that price. While it did recoup its budget, its global box office take was less than stellar, at $185.3 million – thus reinforcing the nature of the rating-budget gamble. The film to beat in the R-rating category has been the comic-book-based Kingsman: The Secret Service (also from 20th Century Fox, just like Deadpool), which was made for $81 million by Matthew Vaughn, and took $414 million at the global box office. That was what it looked like to have the rating-budget gamble pay off – until Deadpool arrived.