During an interview about the current status of the long-in-limbo film adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s beloved creator-owned comic The Boys, screenwriters Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay suggested that the film is slowly but surely working its way toward a green light–but along the way seemed to pretty strongly imply that it might not be quite as hardcore as the comics it’s based on when and if it ultimately makes its way to the screen.”If this was gonna be $5 million you could make it hard R, you could just do whatever you want,” Hay told Collider. “But if you read book one, there’s a budget for it. There’s a certain budget that, in order to do it right, it has to be a certain level. Then it becomes, what is the cost and is that feasible for the storyline?”[UPDATE 7:34 p.m., 4/30/13] Of course, when this led us to speculate earlier tonight that the film may be toned down in order to get made, Hay reached out to us to clarify what, exactly, he meant by that statement.”Our comment was simply about the need to find the sweet spot (as with every movie) where budget meets content,” Hay told ComicBook.com. “It’s about figuring out how much budget one can expect to get if you want to realize the truest version of The Boys, which is everyone’s intent.”It’s long been speculated that the need for a bigger budget and more effects is one of the things that separates The Boys from other R-rated super-fare like Kick-Ass. There was an intimation not long ago that following Watchmen, Hollywood has a feeling that R-rated superheroes aren’t going to be economically feasible but of course no further attempts have been made since Watchmen to improve the results.
