Lionsgate to cut Punisher: War Zone down to PG-13?

Latino Review is reporting that, in addition to director Lexi Alexander being allegedly fired from the film, Lionsgate intended to cut the film down to get a PG-13 rating. Why? Possibly because some suit thinks they can do what Dark Knight did with a PG-13 even though the movie is called Punisher, not Batman.

 

Did they even see the Comic-Con trailer? That thing was in no way shape or form PG-13.

 

I know its unrealistic, but I wish they could produce both a pg13 and nc17 and see which movie makes more money?

Although, I hated the first movie and only think such a thing would be nice to spite the suits.

 

Punisher? It has to be R!







JF

 

I don't know if a 13-minute movie would be very successful at the box office.

 

Neither was Dark Knight, yet Warner Bros. was able to get a PG-13 on that.

In any event, if TPTB think they can pull a TDK with Punisher, they've been hitting the pipe. TDK had the added bonus of Batman who is and always will be more popular/recognizable than Punisher. Go down a street and ask a random person who Batman is, and they will probably know at least one of the many incarnations. Ask them who Punisher is and they might think he's some sort of WWF star.

Also, something to keep in mind is that TDK got the PG-13 rating w/o cutting anything (as far as I know). If they do cut Punisher for it, then they are probably compromising the film.

 

I'm so unenthused for this film its making Valkyrie look like an option.

 

Umm, did you see the Comic-Con Punisher trailer? That thing had chairs hitting people in the eyes, massive amounts of gore and carnage and limbs going every which way. I don't remember any gore or flying limbs in The Dark Knight.

Yeah. I figured that. Which sucks.

 

Oh my god it's the punisher! FORGET YOU MAN!

NO FORGET YOU!

 

It's a shame they've fired the director, and now are walking back on the R-Rating... but, after seeing the trailer, I can't help but feel a total lack of investment in this film. It looks terrible, and that's with or without the gore (be it gratuitous or otherwise).

 

Yippie-kai-yay, Mr. Falcon.

 

God, how hard is it to get a Punisher film right? People talk about how hard it is to make superheros connect realistically with audiences, but Punisher isn't even technically a superhero. The concept is more akin to Death Wish than Spider-Man. It's entirely realistic and it's entirely doable.

One thing people expect though is comic book-level action. Yeah, it's easier to do a character like Punisher with a smaller budget because he lacks superpowers. But I think these films are missing the widescreen appeal of the comic books. Vigilante revenge movies have been done before, a million of them. But for a successful comic book-inspired one, it has to be larger-than-life. That's the difference, say, between an ideal Punisher movie and a Death Wish movie.

 

Well, the thing about those vigilante movies is that most of them weren't very good. For every Death Wish you have a Death Wish II (or, worse, a Death Wish V).

 

At this point, the only desire I have to see this movie is because it may turn out to be the right kind of hilariously bad...

 

I admit, I haven't seen said trailer. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that I believe that TDK should have been rated R.

 

I just saw the trailer with all the gore... damn. How the hell do they think they're going to get a PG-13 out of this? It looks like it's supposed to be an over-the-top shoot 'em up with lots of blood and gore.

 

So once again we're facing moronic execs who "know better"...

 

Got to love studio interference.

Not like it's going to matter. No one gives a shit about this film. The vigilante movie was done to death thirty years ago with Death Wish.

Also, Punisher is in NO WAY Batman. The film won't even gross 10% of The Dark Knight's final total.

 

The fact that TDK was PG-13 proves that the ratings system is a total joke.