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Todd McFarlane Wants Spawn Sequel To Be R-Rated

While talking to MTV the Spawn creator explained his reasons for wanting the Hellspawn's next big screen outing to be an altogether smaller affair...
We already know McFarlane wants the next Spawn movie to shy away from the big, flashy, supernatural side of the comics and focus more on a noirish type detective story with "Spawn lurking in the shadows". The concept was greeted with surprise and befuddlement by many fans of the great comic. But it turns out, there is some method in the mans madness...

"The reason I want to go small with it is that it's a completely R-rated movie," said McFarlane. "If I sell it up big, studios want that PG-13."

"They're a little bit gun-shy with Watchmen not doing the numbers they'd like," he explained. "But I've met people who make $5 million dollar movies for a living, and they walk around with the biggest grins on their faces."

"If i take the offer of the big studios with the big budgets and big production values, that's all nice and you have a better chance of getting a big star, and it works for them commercially, but as I get older, it's sort of less interesting to me," he said.



McFarlane said that there are various studios interested in making his movie but for now he is just focused on finishing the screenplay..

"I have a hundred pages of notes, and what I've done is catalog all the notes, put them in order and now begin putting a little bit of dialog to them," said McFarlane. "The main concern right now is getting the scenes and the beats down. Once you get that, then putting words in their mouths is pretty easy."

I completely understand him wanting to make a more adult movie, much like the HBO animated series was. But I hope he rethinks the idea of making Spawn a supporting character in his own movie!
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Rorschach01
9/24/2009
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53 Comments

The supernatural side of Spawn is the main and best storyline for this character.
SirPrize - 9/24/2009, 11:03 AM
Good! John Leguizamo was the only thing that helped the last movie.
BmanHall - 9/24/2009, 11:04 AM
He says that every year lol!

But good news!!! ; )
LEEE777 - 9/24/2009, 11:08 AM
McFarlane=douche, Spawn=So overrated.

MatchesMalone - 9/24/2009, 11:10 AM
nobody thinks a spawn movie should be pg-13. just as nobody thinks a spawn movie should not be about spawn. if he can make a small noir movie with spawn as the main character i think he would have a winner.
superdog - 9/24/2009, 11:13 AM
hey guys, lets make an x-men movie where you only hear people talk about the x-men, but never actually see them. also we can have them be on a news report in the background or something. but the movie is going to be about two detectives...

this movie sounds horrible
CorndogBurglar - 9/24/2009, 11:17 AM
i read a long time ago that mcfarlane was only making it this way because he didn't have the money to make a full blown, high budget movie after all the lawsuits he had filed against him.

hey, todd, maybe you shouldn't base all your characters off of real people that don't give you approval to use them or their names. just a suggestion
CorndogBurglar - 9/24/2009, 11:18 AM
Good point Superdog!!! And thanks for putting his "method" up Ror! I understand him a bit better. Still it would seem like a Lois Lane movie having only Superman fly by here and there for an interview... any takers??? Cause i'm not.

LOL CBD, funny we thaught of the same thing only with different characters... wait... so is McFarlane... :(
Shaman - 9/24/2009, 11:19 AM
I think it would be great. I can see the mythlogy playing a big role cause it will be up to the detectives to figure it out and slowly understand that world. This way it keens the interest of the viewer more in a way that they want to know more about Spawn.
But clearly at some point in the movie all the focus would need to be on Spawn and about him to be successful.
If not then there is no point in calling the movie Spawn.
zvone87 - 9/24/2009, 11:25 AM
It's good to see McFarlane working on it... even though he has been working on it for years now.
TheUnknown - 9/24/2009, 11:28 AM
R for Ridiculous :P
teabag - 9/24/2009, 11:29 AM
ya know theres lots of characters that when made into a movie should be an R rated movie
Batman
Jonah Hex
Dead Pool
Dare Devil
Green Lantern
Power Girl ( I don't know why this character isn't getting at least an animated movie)
X-Men
Doom Patrol
Sgt. Rock ( what happened to this one?)
Haunted Tank (should be made)
and many more that I can't think of at this moment
georgia49th - 9/24/2009, 11:30 AM
WAIT FOR YEARS FOR SPAWN AND WE GET THIS.
GUNSMITH - 9/24/2009, 11:48 AM
@ georgia49th: Hahaha, damn dude. Let's just make every super hero movies rated R! XD
BmanHall - 9/24/2009, 11:50 AM
georgia@ Green Lantern R rated....naaah dont see it...whats he gonna do flip a giant green finger at Sinestro :P
teabag - 9/24/2009, 11:53 AM
yeah they dont all need to be. but some would work
superdog - 9/24/2009, 11:54 AM
Doctor Strange could be R rated :)
teabag - 9/24/2009, 12:11 PM
lol @ Tea. Yeah man, most of those dont need an R rating! Sure as older fans we would all want to see it, but its hardly necessary.
Rorschach01 - 9/24/2009, 12:12 PM
I liked the last one, but when they went to Hell at the end ad fought Malebogia the FX were HORRIBLE! I'd like to see more R rated movies. Not every title should be seen by little kids. Then again, I went to see Halloween 2 recently and there were a few PRE-TEEN kids in the theater! Good parenting? Yep! It was such a kid-friendly movie!
necrosage2005 - 9/24/2009, 12:17 PM
hope this gets the big 'r'. serious movies for serious comic book viewers. lets give this movie the terrain rating it sorely deserves. the age of watered down, for children movies, has passed. i've got faith in mcfarlane.
Weeton - 9/24/2009, 12:32 PM
I would like to see an r rated venom movie myself.
thunderforce - 9/24/2009, 12:43 PM
I just don't see how this could work.

McFarlane should just head back to the fkn toy factory and call it a day.
BillyBlack - 9/24/2009, 12:51 PM
Wasn't he the same guy who not long ago stated he wanted the film to have less Spawn and more detective work, in the likes of Sam & Twitch?

Call me silly, but I don't care how R-Rated this supposed film would be. a "Spawn" film without Spawn is like making an X-Men film without any X-Men characters
Whispers68 - 9/24/2009, 1:00 PM
@ Teabag- I can see where Georgia is coming from ... If you read the Sinestro Corps books... There is alot of dying so he is aiming for the dying aspect of the rated R with alot of blood...

As for Spawn you need to see the main charater in his own movie.. why not call it .... SPAWN??????.... if that is the case
thegreek - 9/24/2009, 1:17 PM
The only problem is the that R-rated films don't make a lot of money. Studios depend on little kid's spending money.
TheUnknown - 9/24/2009, 1:21 PM
Well i cant [frick]ing wait!

[frick]ing luv SPAWN!!!
LEEE777 - 9/24/2009, 1:28 PM
thegreek@ yeah but its not essential like some characters :P
teabag - 9/24/2009, 1:38 PM
Lee- Don't u mean SPAWN?????

Teabag- I guess i just would assume that if a movie is about a character that they would have somewhat of a big role in it... Even though there has been movie similar to this idea
thegreek - 9/24/2009, 1:39 PM
Some characters like Spawn, Punisher, Blade, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine need an R rating. I know the studios and producers frown on it, but this is how these characters were made. At some point somebody has to realize that anti heros are not at all like Spiderman, or Batman. They deserve the full treatment much like Watchmen was made. I see more blood on f**king C.S.I then anywhere on wolverine's claws, that's regular tv. The studios need to start pushing the PG13 envelope a little harder. If I could hear the word c**ksucker on normal tv, then I should expect some amount of violence in a PG13 movie, especially when I'm paying to see the f**king thing
ASSASSIN666 - 9/24/2009, 2:18 PM
@ Assassin - Well said ... very well said... Now lets start with the explitives.... [frick] ;-)
thegreek - 9/24/2009, 2:21 PM
Looking forward to a sequel
Imran - 9/24/2009, 2:26 PM
They'll frack it up, just like the first one which McFarlane had a hand in making. You know its bad when its only saving grace is John Leguizamo.
antz1104 - 9/24/2009, 3:25 PM
If....and I do mean *IF* it turns out to be more like the HBO cartoon, I'm in...


...if it turns out like the original movie, well, I'll borrow a line from Get Shorty:

"I've seen better film on teeth."
MisterJoshua - 9/24/2009, 3:28 PM
Spawn's source material was made for an R. I get it - but that doesn't mean that Mcfarlane's idea still doesn't suck.

i'll give it some time and see what happens - but I doubt this thing will ever be made. Mcfarlane should stick to making logos for NFL helmets. Guy should just lay down and retire while his people make toys. That's all he's got going for him. Hell - Al Simmons isn't even Spawn anymore - there's a new guy.

The Spawn series should've ended when it made sense. McFarlane needs a new niche.
Keven - 9/24/2009, 3:36 PM
If they do make Spawn I want to see him snapping some arms, breaking some bones, blood, guts, gore. Thats what I loved about the HBO series some of the violence was pretty graphic from what most people would expect from a cartoon. I remember as a little kid my first Spawn comic featured a KKK member raping and hanging a little black girl and Angela watches the entire thing and then kills the KKK member pretty brutally. It was a pretty graphic issue and my 9 year old brain had some trouble wrapping my head around it. WTF were my parents thinking letting me get that haha? A new Spawn movie needs to take on a level of indecency as that issue.
MidKnight35 - 9/24/2009, 4:00 PM
yeah man - Spawn was the comic series that introduced me to the more violent comics. I read that stuff when I was young too and it warped me.
Keven - 9/24/2009, 4:14 PM
The first Spawn was def campy. When you think about when it came out CBM's outside of Superman and Batman were just coming out. Everyone was really trying to figure how to develop a good movie. Of course bad movies are still being made, but i'm sure after TDK everything that's a CBM I'm sure will start to look better.
StrangemannX09 - 9/24/2009, 4:19 PM
@ Midknight- Snapping arms and breaking bones huh..sounds like a Steven Seagal movie
StrangemannX09 - 9/24/2009, 4:21 PM
Keven

Is that what happened to you? ;)

I always just assumed child molestation.

hahahhahahahhah. Just kiddin there little buddy...
BillyBlack - 9/24/2009, 4:35 PM
"I've met people who make $5 million dollar movies for a living, and they walk around with the biggest grins on their faces."

Thats because they make porno.
Acerimmer1 - 9/24/2009, 4:48 PM
Dunno guys I'm kinda keen to see how this movie pans out. I mean everybody is always saying "we wanted our film to be R-rated" but it never happens. How cool would an R-rated Spawn film be?
TheColonel - 9/24/2009, 7:06 PM
Fantastic..if spawn is bleedin in it!
Rorschach01 - 9/24/2009, 7:10 PM
corndog...lol...mcfarlane sux,i met him once! @ssh0le!!!!!
ProfOJ - 9/24/2009, 8:07 PM
I read that they were gonna have a sequel for the first movie like ten years ago. What the hell happened?
supermarioworldE - 9/24/2009, 8:14 PM
this guy is a doughnut a freakin doughnut.
bodykount80 - 9/24/2009, 8:17 PM
thegreek@ i agree with you on Spawn i was just saying R is not essential for everything :)
teabag - 9/25/2009, 3:10 AM
This idea he has for this doesn't sound that good.
Bandrews1 - 9/25/2009, 8:29 AM
i never watched the first one, was it any good?
Mileena16 - 9/25/2009, 9:56 AM
Mileena16- If you loved the [frick] out of Elektra and Ghost Rider, you'll shit your pants how good it will seem.
Shaman - 9/25/2009, 10:10 AM
lol i guess that sums it up
Mileena16 - 9/25/2009, 10:18 AM
The Director to SPAWN, the guy of direct SAW.
OSCURO - 9/25/2009, 3:20 PM
Those characters that were written as R rated characters should have been R rated in their movies. But not because the movie has excessive amounts of violence. Punisher 2 wasnt all that great and it had more than enough violence in it. R rated CB characters will probably always be best visualized in animation. Have you guys ever seen Afro Samurai, that craziness will never be made into a live action movie guranteed!!! Awesome, dialouge and visuals to boot, along with major ass kicking
ColdStone - 9/26/2009, 9:36 AM
But theres just noway you can make a movie like Afro Samurai into live action, it would never pass the suits unless it was watered down but then it wouldnt be that gut splattering masterpiece that it is:(
ColdStone - 9/26/2009, 9:40 AM

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