Aug 15, 2008
Posted by Kirk in Action, Coming to Theaters | 6 comments
‘Punisher: War Zone’ Knocked Down to PG-13?
Could ‘Punisher: War Zone’ be going the way of ‘Live Free or Die Hard’? That just may be the case, according to this article from Latino Review.
Word out is that director, Lexi Alexander, has already been “allegedly” fired from the film. Her own website doesn’t even mention the film. And, now, according to a source close to the project, there is a great debate over at Lionsgate as to the film’s rating.
The studio evidently wants to cash in on the success of ‘The Dark Knight’, making ‘Punisher’ dark, yet accessible. On top of that, the film is poised to be the lone release on post-Thanksgiving weekend, time and time again the worst filmgoing weekend of the year.
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- Whats going on with ‘G.I. Joe’? - We Are Movie Geeks - [...] came out there were all sorts of rumors floating around that it was so horrible they fired Lexi Alexander ...
this is bullshit. I really hope that when it comes time for the DVD they give us the directors cut, hopefully Lexi Alexander has something in the contract for a directors cut dvd version.
What he said!!!! The Punisher is a vigilante and he kills people…that Bat doesn’t. I still dont believe Harvey Two-Face is gone for good. They finally get the character right..cop presumed dead, living in the subways of NY, NO ONE KNOWS who he is and he is handing out a butt load of woop ass!!! Now we want the teen dollar so we will tone it down with some blood-less “Narnia” fighting….Please!!!!!!!!
This is very very very upsetting. When I saw the first trailer for the new Punisher (non-redband) it looked bland and uninteresting. When I finally saw the red band trailer I got very excited because it blew me aways with it’s action and violence! Way more interesting! I hope this all turns out to be false.
That story never rang true to me. I believe THIS guy:
There is a rumor that has started circulating around this little thing called “the internet†that Lionsgate is pushing for the next installment of The Punisher to be rated PG-13. Given all we know of the franchise, this immediately smelled foul. Not being without charms and fully utilizing our ruggedly handsome looks, we tracked down our own source who is, of course, “close to the production.†Their word? *beep*
We could add some words in front of that, like “complete,†“total,†or “utter,†but it throws off the feng-shui of the post, but they would be appropriate. It looks like this originated over at Latino Review, who indicate that they have their own source. Now, I love those Latino Review guys, but I have no idea who they’re talking to. I do, however, definitely know our source and know that I trust them completely. Punisher: War Zone will be Rated R for Rambo-Levels of violence. Which is a good thing, because the kill count of Rambo (another Lionsgate release) was 236 and featured some of the best gore violence in years.
Now, while being Rated-R, the film is still facing a troubled production run, detailed by our Neil Miller at the end of last month. Who knows what else is going on in making the film “presentable,†though it probably has to do mostly with timing. While our source is more than enough for me, for you kids keeping count at home there are a few other things to keep in mind. First, former Marvel Entertainment CEO Avi Arad (and current Marvel producing partner) Avi Arad has always said that The Punisher was one character who would carry the R-Rating at Marvel (the other being Blade). Second, producer Gale Anne Hurd spoke at great length at Comic Con about the film and stressed the level of violence that would be in the film. Lastly, the exclusive footage shown at Comic Con, which was very well received, was definitely from a film that was Rated R, and it was the point they were selling – brutal.
In summation, this PG-13 rumor is total *beep* Punisher: War Zone is still not a ship sailing smoothly, but it will come to theaters with that Rated R stamp all over it on December 5. And just in case you need more evidence of the R-Ratedness, have a look at the clip below, which was launched a few weeks back at Comic-Con.
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/punisher-still-to-punish-in-r-ra ted-way.php
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~rickjonh/icarrot.gif