EDITORIAL: Does Sony Pictures' VENOM Have To Be R-Rated To Satisfy Fans?

Just make a GOOD MOVIE first above all.
Then decide how far you wanna go and how graphic you wanna get

No, it does not need to be R-Rated to satisfy fans.

Venom is not a character that needs to be R-Rated. Carnage is the only one that warrants an R-Rating, maybe the symbiotes from the Life Foundation depending on how their massacre of the Life Foundation is presented.

By the looks of things this movie is more along the lines of him investigating the life foundation resulting in one of the symbiotes they created, Venom, latching onto him. It's a departure from the source material, but i guess it works. I would keep expectations low in regards to symbiote/Venom screentime. I also would not be surprised if the Life Foundation symbiotes merge together to become Carnage instead of Hybrid.

This films supposed R rating only proves that they are missing the point with Venom. His appeal has never been blood or gore, its his relationship and his hatred for Spider-Man that makes him a great character and his own desire to do good but his willingness to kill. Read his current series running at Marvel, it is Venom through and through and if anything its pushing PG-13.

I'm of the mindset that some material requires a specific tone and atmosphere to BEST exemplify the character(s). There are some accommodations that just work best.

However, you focus on what best serves the film/ character. If an R rating doesn t do that, then there's no need for it. Its a fine, fluctuating line.

Deadpool can work outside of the R rated space, but in doing so you're not getting the best version of him I'd say. Characters like Batman can occupy both spaces and do exceedingly well in either one.

Depends on the essence of the character, and the tonal flexibility of the character, as well as their world.

Short answer, yes.

I know literally know nothing besides the basics of Venom, so I can't really comment on whether he is a fit for an R-rating.

However, I have no qualms of R-ratings in films. I personally view them as removing restrictions in films (not just a way to swear, have sex and gory violence); thus characters can behave/ react in a realistic fashion.

Also from an audience perspective I think it can be highly effective. In Logan, with the blood an dismemberment, I had a visceral reaction. Unlike previous films, you actually see the pain and horror when he is stabbing and slashing. In previous films men would fall down with a swipe, whereas here they would scream in pain. You feel that Logan is truly killing and feel the weight of that on him.

That being said, I do think films can still be great without r-ratings.

It's impossible to argue that slapping a Restricted rating on a motion picture won't hinder its audience. At least at the box office, where motion pictures generally make the bulk of their revenue.

Even with star power like Tom Hardy and the character recognition of Venom, that doesn't guarantee that the picture will be a success. There have been plenty of well-made films with both of those elements that under-performed at the box office.

If Venom is advertised and marketed extremely well, it's likely that it will be a success, despite its (possible) Restricted rating, and even the quality of the film, should it turn out to be less than what we expect it to be. If that were the case, while I'm tracking the film, I would expect a large second-weekend drop-off.

I wouldn't bank on people coming out to see the movie, no matter its rating, if critics tear it to shreds. I know that everyone is a critic (that's the way it's supposed to be), but professional reviews can make or break a film's monetary performance. Especially when you compare the experience and financial cost of seeing something in a theater versus the comfort of one's own home. This is why things like Hulu and Netflix have been so successful and will likely further erode the grasp that traditional movie theaters have on the experience of motion picture viewing.

So, in my opinion, even the combination of Tom Hardy, the character of Venom, and a Restricted rating won't ensure that the film is successful, if box office is your definition of a successful film. What matters is how well the picture is made. Even that won't ensure people will come out to see it, but it may incentivize those who are on the fence about seeing the picture, to spend their money on a ticket. It's those casual moviegoers that make pictures into blockbusters, after all.

I digress. I have zero interest in this. I'm actually more excited about Silver and Black than this.

This movie makes no sense and somehow don't will [frick] it up

Well it's already dissapointing a lot of fans already so idk

Is this “jph152” a new editor or something here? His articles always seem to land directly on main, so that must be it right?

Nothing wrong with the articles per se, just seems odd, but I might have missed the announcement lol.

Ratings have a psychological effect on how movies are viewed. We go see a R Rated Venom that is literally a stamp of approval that the filmmakers were allowed to push the envelope.

We see a PG13 Rated Venom and no matter what when certain scenes happen...that feeling pops up in your head of ‘what could of been’ or the feeling that this is a compromised film also pops up.

I think the whole “Rated R” comic book trend is bullshit tbh. It mostly worked for Deadpool but honestly that movie went way farther than his comics to the point of not really being in the same spirit as them. Now it worked bc it was really funny but it really didn’t need to go as far as it did to still be hilarious. Logan while fine didn’t really benefit from it R rating imo, other than the fact that a character with butchers knives coming out of his hands should obviously have a base layer of gore to it I really didn’t like the deconstruction of Charles into this sailor mouthed old man. He can be a dick yeah he was losing his mind but when he would swear it just seemed so antithetical to everything we know about the man and seemed too much to me. The rating doesn’t make of break these movies, the storytelling does and while some characters make more sense to approach in a more extreme or adult way Venom I don’t really see as being one of them. The bigger issue is that this is being produced by a studio that has time and time again screwed over these characters bc of a lack of creative substance and respect for source material not how far the content is willing to go