‘Venom’ May Release an Unrated Version

It’s now been confirmed that Venom is going into theaters with a PG-13 rating, but fans who were hoping for a more hardcore experience from the Spider-Man spinoff film shouldn’t lose hope! It’s now being hinted that Venom could potentially follow the example of so many films like it, and release an unrated version at some point down the line.

The glimmer of possibility came from Venom director Ruben Fleischer, who was recently doing an interview with Fandango. Here’s what Fleischer had to say when asked directly if the Venom home release would come in an unrated version: “I wouldn’t rule anything out. We’ll have to see where it lands, I guess, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.”

In case you don’t speak movie business lingo, Fleischer is basically saying that if Venom does well theatrically, and the demand for a more hardcore cut of the film is out there when the home release window opens, then an unrated version is definitely on the table. It’s standard operating procedure for a film that teeters the line of PG-13 and R so closely. And it definitely seems like the demand is already out there, so all that remains is for Venom to crush the box office.

On that front: Venom is projected for a massive box office opening – possibly a record-setting opening for October movie releases. That’s a nice cushion of momentum going into the final stretch before release; with the PG-13 rating, there will be a much wider demographic of audience that can contribute to the box office returns – yet another factor working in Venom‘s favor.

So, as of now, it seems like getting that unrated version will be a good bet – as for what’s in it? Well we know there will be some pretty gruesome kills in the movie, so you can bet that an unrated version will have more of the blood and gore that Fleischer was so good at fitting into his breakout film, Zombieland. That includes the full range of maiming and mayhem when the Venom symbiote bends, breaks, or outright decapitates crooks and enemy agents from the Life Foundation – and quite possibly some more extensive body-horror scenes when it comes to symbiote bonding and/or transformation.

Venom will be in theaters on October 5th.