James Gunn has always maintained that he only ever envisioned The Suicide Squad as an R-rated film, but as it turns out, Warner Bros. did initially ask him if he could bring it in at a PG-13.
During an interview with Collider, Gunn was asked if he was surprised that the studio allowed him to make the kind of movie he wanted since it was so different to most other DCEU entries (Birds of Prey was also R-rated, but pretty tame in comparison).
"I think I have a sort of blindness about that sort of thing," he replied. "I wrote the script the whole time, thinking they would let me make it, I mean, they asked, 'Can you make this PG-13?' I said, no. I said, 'You can make it and take it with somebody else, and they can direct it, and you can do a PG 13. But if I'm going to direct it, I want it to be R.' They were like, 'Okay, that's worth the trade-off for us.' So, they were great about it."
Gunn was also asked if he'll continue to make R-rated comic book movies going forward, and pointed out that he'd simply do whatever the story required.
"I would never do an R-rated Guardians of the Galaxy. It just wouldn't be what that show is. It's for families, and old people love it. It's more like a fairy tale. And I think it is completely, that is what it is. Suicide Squad is something very different than that, and the stakes are different. All of that is different. But if I were to do say a Shazam movie, which I'm not saying I'm going to do a Shazam movie, I don't think that should be R-rated either. I think if I did that, it would be PG-13. If I did Deadpool, it would be rated R."
It's true that The Suicide Squad would almost certainly have made more money at the box office if it was rated PG-13, but then, it'd be a completely different movie!
The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max. You can check out our 5-star review below.