The Toxic Avenger Reboot Earns R Rating

Legendary Pictures' upcoming revival of the Troma classic The Toxic Avenger seems poised to arrive soon and the film has already earned its rating from the Motion Picture Association. Surprising no one, the film has been Rated R, "for strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity." Filmmaker Macon Blair revealed the news online, adding: "Also R for booze and homemade toilet drug depictions, rascal behavior, unsafe urban gymnastics, butts, the funky cold medina and bodies being encouraged to hit the floor." The film marks the fifth movie featuring the character, with all of its predecessors also earning the Restricted rating.

Blair's version of the film will feature Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage as the titular hero and has Kevin Bacon as its primary villain. The new film is the first that wasn't exclusively a production of Troma Entertainment but does have co-creators Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz attached as producers. Joining Dinklage and Bacon in the film are Jacob Tremblay as Dinklage's son and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom actress Taylour Paige as the female lead. Elijah Wood, who previously collaborated with Blair on his previous film, will also appear alongside Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, I May Destroy You). 

"I saw Toxie as an impressionable kid and it had quite an impact on me—the absurdity and gleeful bad taste of it," Blair previously told Bloody Flicks about his take on the material. "So, in one sense it's an exciting privilege to get to take a swing at a new version but it's also kind of daunting because there are different goals we're trying to hit simultaneously. Troma fans are passionate and dedicated and it's impossible to make a movie they feel like honors the original. I don't presume we're going to be able to please every single person, but the intention and the hope is that fans will feel like we've preserved some of that Kaufman vibe. But at the same time, we want to make a movie that will connect with contemporary audiences who may not have heard of Troma or Toxie, who are coming into it without that context, so it can't all be winks and nods and rehash of the original."

A previously released description for the film reads as follows: "Based on the 1984 cult classic of the same name. Set in a fantasy world following Winston, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him."