The picture on Mike Sprague’s article on MovieWeb’s sight is pretty accurate since a lot of fans are shaking their head and wondering why in the world and how in the world Todd McFarlane is going to get an R-rated Spawn movie to get going on Kickstarter. Is it true that people want to see Spawn as an R-rated movie? Definitely. Are people willing to pay for it? Well, if you just heard crickets you shouldn’t be surprised. So far it would seem that no one wants to fund the R-rated version of Spawn since a lot of people seem to be inclined to think that the demonic hero seems to need a more PG-13 appearance and attitude. If you’re shaking your head at the moment it might indicate that you know just who Spawn is and what he does and would agree that the character deserves a hard R rating since his entire M.O. is messing people up, when they need it, and dishing out some major pain to hellspawn whenever they dare to step within range. Obviously Spawn has had issues with other characters that aren’t so infernally-inclined in the past, but as a hero he’s definitely more geared towards combating the forces of evil.
But whether or not he’s going to get there is a good question at this point since the funding simply isn’t there. It would be easy and kind of accurate to claim that some fans would likely put up any kind of money they could in order to make this movie happen, but asking for $20 million or more makes a lot of jaws drop and some folks tighten their grip on their wallets and checkbooks. Making a movie isn’t cheap, that much is obvious, but thinking that it could be done entirely off of Kickstarter or any other fundraising site is something that speaks of eternal optimism that never seems to lessen. It’s very possible to be honest as some folks will give every last cent they have in the pursuit of entertainment, and there are those out there that would likely give generously to a movie such as this, but $20 million seems like a stretch. You never know, it could happen and it could be one of the most unbelievable things to ever happen, but it also seems like a pipe dream at this point since Spawn is a great story and one that deserves to be given the kind of representation it needs, but at the same time it’s not the kind of epic story that people all over the world know about. He’s the kind of hero that is still a vigilante and does things on his own terms, and therefore is kind of hard for some people to get behind. Well, there’s that, and the fact that a lot of people just don’t know who he is.
It’s true, for as long as Spawn has been around, meaning since about the early 90s, he’s been nothing but a badass character that makes no apologies for who he is and the things he does. He’s even taken on Batman during his history and has been featured in a couple of video games throughout his history. But look at it this way, the 90s were all about mashing the most popular icons of the time together now and again and Batman even took on the Predator and Aliens and somehow survived, so stating that took on Spawn is something that might be interesting but not exactly worthy of renown. In other words, trying to drum up that kind of interest, the kind that will inspire people to contribute the type of money that McFarlane is seeking, could be something of an epic quest that might never be realized. It would be great to see an R-rated movie come out, as the one we were given with Michael Jai White and Martin Sheen was, well, less than adequate for what we were expecting. People actually walked out of the theater, some because it defied their religious beliefs, and others simply because it wasn’t all that great to begin with.
The story of Spawn is one that’s unique and quite interesting to read, and it does deserve the kind of attention that can elevate it in the minds of the audience. McFarlane asking for the people to pay the bill is a bit of a reach, but at the same time you can’t help but think that one way or another Spawn can’t possibly survive a PG-13 rating if that were to happen. Logan was given an R rating finally, and Deadpool couldn’t be given anything less if he expected to be successful, so the studios need to wake up and realize that a hero or a villain needs to be able to remain true to their source material. Spawn is a hell-born hero, which means he’s not bound to be nice, or particularly PC.
Follow Us
