Vin Diesel has been a part of a slew of major franchises that have built quite the reputation for the star in the industry. From films like Guardians of the Galaxy to classic blockbusters like the Fast and the Furious franchise, the actor has been a part of some great IP, giving him significant leverage in the industry.
However, despite all the say the actor would have in the industry, it is ultimately the studio that has the final say on certain things, especially when box office returns on a particular story seem less than satisfactory. Vin Diesel found himself in a similar issue with Riddick, the third installment in his science fiction franchise that started with 2000’s Pitch Black.
Chronicles of Riddick lost its R-rating as soon as studios got involved
Speaking with Collider, Vin Diesel revealed a lot about how the film had to make a few decisions that might not have sat well with the actor, chief among them the fact that it would lose its R-rating to be cleared for the budget that it had. Diesel said:
“You can’t count on your hands a bunch of rated-R movies that are getting a lot of play. They’re so far and few between. In fact, we were victims of that in going the studio route with Chronicles of Riddick. Budget went up, and we went into that film we were going in rated-R, and the first thing taken out was rated-R. You want to spend that kind of money? You want to expand the mythology like that? You’ll have to reconfigure the way you’re going to produce this movie and make it PG.”
Whenever it comes to films that are rated R, studios are often skeptical about the returns the film would have at the box office. Given that a significant amount of the population is barred from purchasing tickets for the film, an R-rated franchise often does get green-lit without significant cuts, such that its rating is changed to PG or lower.
A rating has a lot to do with how the making of a film is approached, Vin Diesel revealed
Vin Diesel had a lot to say about the manner in which the film was being made, with a focus on how, while some PG films get away with some pretty hard R stuff, the approach to making the film completely changes based on the rating that was decided on. The actor revealed;
“It means something in your approach to making a movie. There’s something appropriate and liberating and honest and free about going into a picture like this and being able to make it a rated-R picture and not have to comply with an understandable studio mandate of PG filmmaking for the blockbusters in Hollywood.”
While it is completely possible to make a PG film that caters to an audience interested in a rated-R story, it isn’t easy to bank on films that are rated-R, given how small the possible audience for the film is.
While films like Deadpool and Joker have received a lot of success despite their R-rating, this is a rarity rather than the norm, which hinders studios from going all in on films that cater to the adult audience exclusively.
Riddick is available on Amazon Prime Video.
