‘Venom’ is Officially Rated PG-13, Tickets Go on Sale Soon
Cinemark look to have pegged Venom with a PG-13 rating and a 112-minute/1 hour, 52 minute running time. Tickets should go on sale soon.
The shorter running time and more audience-reaching rating are likely an effort by the studio to make sure that as many people see the movie as possible, particularly on the opening weekend. With Sony planning numerous spin-offs with Spider-Man characters that Marvel Studios aren’t interested in at the moment, quite a bit rides on Venom, which is easily the biggest and most popular character that they could use for a spin-off. Early tracking on the movie put it in a position where it would open well beneath the likes of Ant-Man and the Wasp; currently, tracking is said to be for a $65M weekend.
This development should not come as a surprise to fans who read last month’s report that the movie would be PG-13. Director Ruben Fleischer pushed for an R-rating, but was overruled by the studio, who are hoping that this character could appear alongside Spider-Man in Marvel Studios movies even though Marvel Studios have indicated that they’re really not interested in the idea, and that whatever Sony does on their own will likely have no bearing on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s decade-spanning story. This move is likely to upset fans who were hoping for an R-rated take on the character, but the lack of any red-band trailers seems like it was a pretty big tip-off in hindsight.
Sony is currently developing multiple Spider-Man spin-offs set outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Morbius the Living Vampire, Kraven the Hunter, Silver Sable, Black Cat, Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch. Some projects that were developed but were ultimately scrapped include Silver and Black and Mysterio. Venom, the first movie in this potential shared setting, will be released on October 5, 2018.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
