3. R-Rated Comic Book Movies (Usually) Aren't Worth It For Studios
Warner Bros.Rather understandably, there's a number of reasons why The Dark Knight and The Avengers aren't rated R, because they're aimed at the teen market and a PG-13 rating is the most appropriate, as well as the most financially viable. An R-rating would not suit the tone of either film, but rather it is reserved for movies with more adult, subversive themes, such as Zack Synder's ultra-violent, sex-filled Watchmen, the uber-gory 300 and Sin City, and movies like Kick-Ass, which feature cursing children. Go figure. Sadly, the R-rated comic book adaptation isn't something undertaken with much enthusiasm by most movie studios, and that's for one main reason: money. All comic book movies cost a lot of money, but the R-rating places a severely restrictive ceiling on who can see your movie, and so even one of the most successful R-rated comic book movies, 300, made "only" $456 million (admittedly on a small budget of $65 million), whereas PG-13 comic book movies are routinely approaching the $1 billion mark. Also, R-rated movies are far more prone to commercial failure for their adult content: everyone wants to see Captain America bloodlessly smack some dude about with his shield, but not everyone wants to see The Punisher explode a guy's head or see Elijah Wood be devoured by a wolf. Just look at films like Watchmen and Dredd: they were entertaining and acclaimed, yet failed to connect with audiences, and as such reinforced the notion that, most of the time, R-rated comic book flicks just aren't worth the hassle.