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Punisher: War Zone possibly getting neutered
Update: According to Screen Rant (and brought to my attention by commentor Nomad), Lexi Alexander is indeed still working on the film, and the movie won't be rated PG-13. There seems to be a continual back and forth among the studio executives surrounding a number of things (and I'm thinking this is the forth) regarding the film. So as of this very second, expect a Lexi Alexander directed violent bloodfest rated R.
Punisher is a character who thrives on violence. If there's not at least 30 people dead by the end of an issue, then it wasn't a good issue. When Thomas Jane's Punisher came out in 2004, it wasn't extremely ultra-violent, but it was violent enough to be a satisfactory tribute to Frank Castle. The next incarnation of the series, Punisher: War Zone, doesn't feature Jane (why not I have no idea) but it does feature a red band trailer, meaning lots of violence and carnage. Which is good news for Punisher fans everywhere. But Batman may have been a bad influence on Punisher.
Latino Review reports that the film may be scaled back to get a PG-13 rating. This stems from the phenomenal success that The Dark Knight has had at the box office as a PG-13 movie. Let's stop and think about this for a second. If Lionsgate think that a Punisher film will be anywhere near as successful as a Batman film because they scale the rating back they are SORELY mistaken. Batman is a much more popular character than Punisher, and, no offense to Lexi Alexander (more on her in a second) or Lionsgate, but Punisher: War Zone will not be anywhere near as good as The Dark Knight. It just won't. So Lionsgate executives need to keep the film Rated R if they want it to be successful at all.
Now, Lexi Alexander. Rumor has it she has been let go from the film. This is an alleged report, but a visit to her website has no mention at all of the movie. No word as to why she may have been let go, but my guess is it may have something to do with this battle about the rating. Most likely she had one version of the film in mind (Rated R), and the studio wants to go a different route (PG-13), leading to "creative differences."
Punisher: War Zone getting friendly
Update: According to Screen Rant (and brought to my attention by commentor Nomad), Lexi Alexander is indeed still working on the film, and the movie won't be rated PG-13. There seems to be a continual back and forth among the studio executives surrounding a number of things (and I'm thinking this is the forth) regarding the film. So as of this very second, expect a Lexi Alexander directed violent bloodfest rated R.
Punisher is a character who thrives on violence. If there's not at least 30 people dead by the end of an issue, then it wasn't a good issue. When Thomas Jane's Punisher came out in 2004, it wasn't extremely ultra-violent, but it was violent enough to be a satisfactory tribute to Frank Castle. The next incarnation of the series, Punisher: War Zone, doesn't feature Jane (why not I have no idea) but it does feature a red band trailer, meaning lots of violence and carnage. Which is good news for Punisher fans everywhere. But Batman may have been a bad influence on Punisher.
Latino Review reports that the film may be scaled back to get a PG-13 rating. This stems from the phenomenal success that The Dark Knight has had at the box office as a PG-13 movie. Let's stop and think about this for a second. If Lionsgate think that a Punisher film will be anywhere near as successful as a Batman film because they scale the rating back they are SORELY mistaken. Batman is a much more popular character than Punisher, and, no offense to Lexi Alexander (more on her in a second) or Lionsgate, but Punisher: War Zone will not be anywhere near as good as The Dark Knight. It just won't. So Lionsgate executives need to keep the film Rated R if they want it to be successful at all.
Now, Lexi Alexander. Rumor has it she has been let go from the film. This is an alleged report, but a visit to her website has no mention at all of the movie. No word as to why she may have been let go, but my guess is it may have something to do with this battle about the rating. Most likely she had one version of the film in mind (Rated R), and the studio wants to go a different route (PG-13), leading to "creative differences."
Punisher: War Zone getting friendly
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