Deadpool has proven Hollywood wrong. For years, folks at Marvel, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have kept their comic book movies family-friendly and rated PG-13 to reach the widest audience possible.
But Deadpool just goes to show that a superhero film, if done right, doesn't have to have a family-friendly rating to do big business. The film has already earned more than $150 million at the box office and blown away the competition over the Valentine's Day weekend. It's a huge win for a film with an estimated budget of $58 million, and now film studios are paying attention, especially Deadpool's studio 20th Century Fox.
It appears Fox is attributing Deadpool's success solely to its R-rating, as now it's being reported that the upcoming third Wolverine film will also sport an R-rating. Reddit user RayChaos posted an image of a poster for the film (which you can see below) which shows that Fox is "anticipating" an R-rating for the film. Each previous X-Men related film, including Wolverine's two solo outings, have been rated PG-13.
Given Deadpool's success, it's highly unlikely that the new Wolverine film will be the only R-rated superhero movie in the next few years. It's almost a certainty that the long-rumored X-Force film (basically the Seal Team Six of the X-Men) will finally become a reality and sport an R-rating to boot. We wouldn't be surprised if Marvel and DC also reconsidered their stance on R-rated superhero movies. You can bet that if there is money to be made, these entertainment giants are going to find a way to make it.
The only issue is that while Fox seems to believe Deadpool's R-rating make it a success, that's only part of the truth. The reason the film works is because it's a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre, a genre that for too long has been so concerned with appealing to everybody and offending nobody that it has grown stale.
If more and more R-rated comic book films begin to see release, Deadpool's unique spin on the genre begins to feel less unique. That being said, at least Wolverine would certainly benefit from an R-rating. Finally, Wolverine's claws can actually cut and maim people, rather than just bloodlessly killing them. The third Wolverine film is set to debut March 3, 2017. Hugh Jackman says it will be his last time playing the character, though whether or not that will turn out to be true remains to be seen.
