To most movie fans, the rating assigned before it hits theaters is known months ahead of
time, usually from the first script.
The truth is a lot more surprising, since a shockingly small amount of sex, violence,
or foul language can completely change a movie in the eyes of those rating.
Here are 10 Famous Movies Orignally Rated R.
The Wolverine/X-Men Origins Deadpool may have blazed an R-Rated trail
for Fox's X-Men universe, but it was one that the Wolverine was originally intended for
in his solo movie series.
And not pulling punches, either: one of the creators of Game of Thrones was hired to adapt
the Weapon X storyline into an R-Rated solo film that did justice to the hero's roots
- and skills.
But as Hugh Jackman later admitted, the studio would need a very, very good reason to cut
out every Wolverine fan under the age of 18.
And at the time, they didn't have it.
Titanic Nobody would call this historical fiction
gory, but a single scene almost sliced its audience considerably -the now famous sketching
of Kate Winslet's 'Rose', drawn naked like one of Jack's French girls.
The MPAA issued the movie an R Rating for the nudity, but when director James Cameron
appealed, saying there was actually nothing sexual or vulgar about the scene, they agreed
- and the first billion dollar box office followed.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire It's hard to imagine a story of kids being
forced to fight each other to the death ever NOT getting an R Rating, but the Hunger Games
somehow pulled it off.
They almost didn't for the sequel, either.
But the change required is a pretty good case of how weird the MPAA's demands can get.
Instead of one Tribute taking a spear to the face - R-Rated - he took it to the chest - PG-13.
Raiders of the Lost Ark Even classic adventure movies can test the
ratings board, like the final scene of the first Indiana Jones movie.
Watching as a squadron of Nazis is killed by supernatural energy may sound like pure
fantasy, it was the villain Belloq's head exploding that went too far.
A little fire did the trick, so let's all think back to when THIS (head exploding) was
too realistic for kids to watch.
Transformers You can have all the violence you want when
it's gigantic transforming robots doing the fighting, right?
Wrong, apparently.
The first cut of Transformers submitted to the MPAA for rating came back with an "R"
for its intense violence.
Producer Steven Spielberg stepped in, presumably telling them that it didn't ACTUALLY happen,
and they went with PG-13 instead.
Spider-Man No comic fan will forget the first time they
saw Spider-Man the movie, since it helped kick off the superhero craze we're living
in.
Plenty doubted Tobey Maguire in the role, but he earned his stripes by the final fight
- a knock down, drag out brawl against Green Goblin.
It was a little too graphic at first, including razor-sharp pumpkin drones slicing Peter up
throughout the fight.
They were cut, and the blood coming from Peter's mouth was digitally removed, and all was well.
Mean Girls The cult hit didn't need too much sex to win
over audiences, but the original Mean Girls went for a R-Rating at full speed.
Plans to have Karen deliver her final weather report topless, a sex scene between Regina
and Aaron, and references that had to be dubbed over in the final cut helped it reach the
PG level - and probably for the best.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Some people might think of vampires as less
than human, but the ratings board definitely doesn't.
The massive fight sequence at the end of the final Twilight movie saw dozens of vampires
being torn apart, beheaded, and otherwise killed - enough for an R Rating.
Knowing how much of the fan base that would cut out of the box office, some kills were
left off-screen, and the sound effects were softened, or removed completely.
Galaxy Quest In the world of cult hits, Galaxy Quest really
is in a league of its own, as basically the most expensive Star Trek tribute movie ever
made.
But the original plan for dropping TV actors into actual space battles was even more adult:
not much violence, and maybe a bit of sexual content - but it was the profanity that earned
the movie its original R Rating.
As fun as it would have been to see the star-studded cast swearing up a storm, some dubbed lines
made sure ti reached the biggest audience.
The Avengers We know what you're thinking: the story of
Earth's mightiest superheroes battling alien weirdos was deemed too adult for the young
audiences being targeted?
It was actually just a single scene, a single shot really, that got the R Rating: the death
of Agent Coulson.
A little less blade and a little less blood was all the rating board needed to approve
it for the whole family.
The Avengers is one of the greatest examples superheroes teaming up of all time, but there
are still lots of superhero collabs that fans would love to see.
Our friends over at the CBR Youtube channel have a new video all about Amazing Supehero
Team Ups That NEED To Happen!
Click the preview here to check out this video and all of their other awesome content and
we guarantee you will be in for a treat!
Those are just a handful of the Hollywood movies that almost embraced a more adult tone
with an R-Rating, but there are a lot more where the came from.
Let us know which ones you find the most surprising, or the biggest missed opportunities, and remember
to subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one!