It didn’t take long after the massive success of 20th Century Fox’s R-rated adventureDeadpoolfor rumors to surface about future superhero movies aiming for an R rating. Just last week, it was confirmed thatWolverine 3has begun shooting, and it will be R-rated. But many feel that anotherX-Men spinoffthe studio is developing,X-Force, should get an R rating as well. As it turns out, producerSimon Kinbergfeels just the same way, teasing in a recent interview that the studio would be open to anR-rated X-Force.
X-Forcehas been in development since 2013, whenKick-Ass 2writer-directorJeff Wadlowcame aboard to write the screenplay. While we haven’t heard much on the development of this project since then,Deadpool’s post-credit sequence teased thatX-ForceleaderCablewill be introduced in the upcoming sequelDeadpool 2, with actors such asStephen Lang(Avatar) andDolph Lundgren(The Expendables) expressing their interest in the role. During an interview withDen of Geek, producerSimon Kinbergteased thatX-Forceshould certainly be R-rated, if it ever gets made, but he doesn’t think the flagshipX-Menfranchise should get the restrictive rating.
“When there are films that want to be raunchier, want to bedarker, want to be violent or R-rated, [Fox will] be open to it. And not every movie should be. I don’t think that the mainX-Menmovies should be R-rated; I don’t think they’re R-rated stories. But if we were to make anX-Forcemovie, that probably should be R-rated. And what we’re doing with the Wolverine movie… that wasn’t impacted byDeadpool. We’d made the decision forWolverineto be R-rated beforeDeadpoolcame out. But I think there’s even more confidence about having made that decision now that you see that an R-ratedDeadpoolmovie can do better than anyX-Menmovie’s ever done.”
Deadpoolhas taken in $362.5 million domestically and $762.3 million worldwide since its release in February, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, although its $362.5 million domestic total is just short ofThe Passion of the Christ’s R-rated domestic record of $370.7 million. Still,Deadpoolproved that there is a huge audience out there who will pay to see R-rated superhero fare, although it remains to be seen how this will affect other superhero movies from Marvel and Warner Bros., if at all. The current blockbusterBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicewill be getting an R-rated extended cut on home video later this year, and there have been rumors it may get a theatrical release as well.
As for theX-Force movie, we still don’t know for sure whether or not this project will move forward anytime soon, butDeadpoolstarRyan Reynoldshas teased that he wants to reprise his role as the Merc With the Mouth in that movie.DeadpoolwritersRhett ReeseandPaul Wernickhave teased thatDeadpoolwill in fact cross over into theX-Forcemovie, but that may not happen until after the release ofDeadpool 2, which still doesn’t have a confirmed release date at this time. We’ll continue to keep you posted with all developments from theX-Forcemovie and theX-Menuniverse at large, so stay tuned.
