Black Adam Needed A Ridiculous Number Of Changes To Not Be Rated R
Black Adam had to be changed approximately ten times to avoid an R-rating.
As the summer movie blockbuster season has come to a close, and a new set of movies hits theaters this fall, the Dwayne Johnson comic book flick Black Adam might be the most anticipated of the bunch. The latest entry into the DC Universe, Black Adam, is a dark story of an antihero that Collider reports originally had an R-rating attached to it, but approximately ten scenes had to be changed in order for the new film to obtain a PG-13 rating. As DC didn’t want to fall into the Deadpool R-rating territory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Black Adam will retain its PG-13 rating when it opens in the United States on October 21.
But apparently, for Black Adam to achieve a PG-13 rating in the first place, producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia had to work their magic in trimming down some of the violence and aggression displayed by Dwayne Johnson’s titular character while still staying faithful to the source material as much as possible.
The producers of the film confirmed to Collider that they worked with the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) collaboratively to make the changes necessary to obtain the PG-13 rating, but that it came down to the wire where changes were still being made as of a month ago.
One of the pivotal scenes that got trimmed down was where Johnson’s Black Adam annihilates an adversary with extreme violence, and about ten sections where enemies are killed with force, but the producers kept a small number of similar sequences in the final product to compromise with the MPAA.
Collaborative nature aside, a PG-13 rating for Black Adam tends to mean a more significant box office haul for the film and its star, Dwayne Johnson. For movies that are Rated R, fewer viewers are legally allowed to buy tickets to the movie, so the amount the film could potentially make is trimmed down substantially.
Warner Bros. Pictures, the distributor of Black Adam, might be looking to appeal to a larger audience with a DC Extended Universe entry that could possibly spawn other films within the franchise, making room for the character of Black Adam to theoretically battle against well-known DC Comics superheroes like Henry Cavill’s version of Superman.
With star Dwayne Johnson leading the charge, Black Adam will hopefully take on a reset for the DC Extended Universe that has sorely needed a win in recent years. With rumors of bad behavior by Justice League director Joss Whedon and legal troubles for The Flash star Ezra Miller taking up space in the media as of late, the DCEU is looking towards the future with Black Adam.
The film introduces new characters to the franchise and continues stories of established characters like Zachary Levi’s upcoming sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Black Adam costars an ensemble group of actors that includes One Night in Miami… actor Aldis Hodge, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Noah Centineo, City on a Hill star Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Euphoria performer Quintessa Swindell, and James Bond icon Pierce Brosnan.
