I have been wondering, would WB have been okay with an R rating for TERMINATOR 4, if WATCHMEN had been the MEGA-HIT they were hoping for? are was WM's failure at the box office even a factor at all?
Did the failure of Whatcmen influence T4 rating?
- Thread starter miraclefan
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T4's rating has more to do with the trend to produce more PG-13 films than R-rated ones. There've been a lot of PG-13 horror movies in recent years. And LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD came out as a PG-13. Lots of internet bitching about it, but the movie brought in a good chunk of change. Then the studios bring out the "Unrated-too-intense-for-theaters" DVD cut and sell you the movie all over again.
Movies are all about putting as many butts as possible in the seats...and PG-13 gives you more potential butts. Especially when you are talking about a big budget summer action movie.
Watchmen's failure had more to do with the fact that outside of comicbook fans, no-one really cared about the movie.
Movies are all about putting as many butts as possible in the seats...and PG-13 gives you more potential butts. Especially when you are talking about a big budget summer action movie.
Watchmen's failure had more to do with the fact that outside of comicbook fans, no-one really cared about the movie.
R-rated movies generally don't pull in the bank of PG-13 movies because of restricted access. Now of course there are R-rated blockbusters, but the suits want to get as many people watching and into the theater as they can, so making T4 PG-13 makes sense financially even though I think it shackles the movie creatively. That being said, a lot of stuff passes under the PG-13 banner these days that wouldn't have in the past. Besides, there will be an unrated/director's cut of the film when it comes out on DVD. Just be patient.
I don't think Watchmen failed. It underperformed, but it wasn't a flop. It wasn't a known property, it wasn't a family film, it was three hours long, it dealt with dark and complex issues, all these things worked against it. In comparison to Synder's 300, that was pretty simple story (good Spartans v. bad Persians) and done up like a video game. Despite its intense, graphic violence it was so over-the-top that it couldn't be taken seriously.
I don't think Watchmen failed. It underperformed, but it wasn't a flop. It wasn't a known property, it wasn't a family film, it was three hours long, it dealt with dark and complex issues, all these things worked against it. In comparison to Synder's 300, that was pretty simple story (good Spartans v. bad Persians) and done up like a video game. Despite its intense, graphic violence it was so over-the-top that it couldn't be taken seriously.
Unless the movie is about violence I think a PG-13 rating isn't a bad thing. I remember when Fellowship came out and I was surprised (in a good way) that there was so much dark imagery and violence in it yet it would be seen by more people. T4 looks less like T1 (killer going after victim) and more like a large scale sci fi adventure. the rating suits that kind of film
I don't understand the logic behind this, because "R" rated movies have proven to be big box office draws in the past.
I can wait to see Moon Bloodgood's tits on the DVD, I've seen breasts before, they are nice but the lack of breasts in a film really doesn't matter to me. The PG-13 rating will not deter me from seeing the film in theaters.
Remember when the Joker slammed a dude's face into a pencil in The Dark Knight? It was really effective, right, made you wince? PG-13 movie.
I certainly don't think Watchmen's underwhelming box office performance helped the argument for R-rated films trying to be blockbusters though.
Remember when the Joker slammed a dude's face into a pencil in The Dark Knight? It was really effective, right, made you wince? PG-13 movie.
I certainly don't think Watchmen's underwhelming box office performance helped the argument for R-rated films trying to be blockbusters though.
I don't understand the problem with Terminator Salvation having a PG-13 rating. In the first Terminator flicks, people get shot up with rifles, handguns and machine guns. Blood splatters everywhere. Terminator Salvation takes place when SkyNet and the Resistance are using laser guns that cause people to spark when hit and fall over. The ratings just not that much of a concern to me when you think about how the violence is going to inherently be less graphic due to the kinds of weapons being used.
Passion of the Christ, and Matrix Reloaded are the only two R-rated movies in the top 50 all time domestic box office hits. R-rated movies can make money, sometimes a LOT of money. But their potential overall is much less than lesser rated movies.
I don't think they have lasers yet (based upon the prequel book).
Well that SUCKS!
not much good bullets can do against a terminator!
Well that SUCKS!
No kidding...I can't see the resistance making much progress until they get their hands on some laser-guns...
Watchmen probably would have gotten a PG-13 rating if they had cut out some of the sex scenes. Also clothing Dr. Manhattan may have helped to.
Well that SUCKS!
No kidding...I can't see the resistance making much progress until they get their hands on some laser-guns...
I'm with you guys...I distinctly remember Kyle Resse in the first Terminator lamenting the fact that it was going to be hard to stop the Terminator with circa 1984 weapons, i.e bullets. Fast Forward to T2 and we see Arnie take out an entire police department by himself at Cyberdyne , when they were armed with just regular guns. I understand that only 10 years from now, apocalypse or not we will not have a Plasma rifle in the 40W range, but it will be nice to see how the movie handles the difficulty it takes to destroy Terminators.
WOW you think so?
Better that they tried to be true to the source than change it for a few extra bucks at the box office.
"R" may have never been considered. It seems to me for a big expensive film like this, PG-13 is the default rating and you have to have a compelling story reason to go to R as it potentially dampens sales. How violent this film is doesn't matter to me one way or another, but I've seen quite a bit of violence squeezed into a PG-13.
Well, it depends on your definition of "flop," I suppose. The movie grossed about $180 million worldwide, of which roughly 35 percent goes to theater owners, which gives the studio about $117 million. The movie had a production budget of about $150 million (according to BoxOfficeMojo), and a promotional budget of tens of millions more, which could pump up the total budget as much as $200 million.
So it's pretty clear that the movie lost money at the box office. It may eventually recoup the losses with DVD sales and broadcast rights, but I think it did much worse than just underperform.
And I say that as a fan of the movie who enjoyed it immensely.
Re: weaponry in the movie
The prequel book has them going up against T-600s, T-1s, and HKs, not T-800s (the Arnold model). The current weaponry will take them out, but it's tough, and they often used large explosives or aircraft weaponry to take them out. These things weren't readily available to Kyle Reese in 1984, but they would have been available to the military.
The prequel book has them going up against T-600s, T-1s, and HKs, not T-800s (the Arnold model). The current weaponry will take them out, but it's tough, and they often used large explosives or aircraft weaponry to take them out. These things weren't readily available to Kyle Reese in 1984, but they would have been available to the military.
They've been talking about a PG-13 Terminator film since last year. So Watchmen didn't affect it.
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