Details on ‘Deadpool 2’ PG-13 Recut Officially Unveiled
The PG-13 recut of Deadpool 2, previously rumored to be titled The Deadpool Before Christmas for a December 21 release date, is now going to operate under a new title (Once Upon a Deadpool) and a new release date (December 12). The studio is finally shedding light on what’s different about this version, including its runtime.
Per Deadline, the recut will only be shown in theaters for twelve days (December 12 to December 24), which would be a window that targets young adolescents who are a little too young to sneak into R-rated movies, since this would be right around the time they get out of school. This window will prevent it from competing too much with DC and WB’s Aquaman, which will open in the last four days of Once Upon a Deadpool‘s limited engagement instead of opening on the same day. However, Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will be more affected, and it might be to their benefit if they schedule the animated feature a week ahead of its current release date (December 14) to get a head-start on Deadpool instead of coming two days later.
The recut unsurprisingly has less foul language and bloody violence, but with it comes a special treat even for audiences who have already seen the bloodier and more vulgar version: an entirely-new subplot involving Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Fred Savage as his character from The Princess Bride, years later. The entire thing was filmed in a single day. Apparently, the movie will have eight additional scenes adding a total of 15 minutes of new footage to the movie, but enough will be cut from the movie to make sure that Once Upon a Deadpool runs at 116 minutes – three minutes shorter than the original version. This edit of the movie is expected to see a release in China, which is a key region that the vanilla version of Deadpool 2 sat out.
From what we’re able to gather from this report, the new sequences will involve Deadpool telling a heartwarming tale to a grown man that he is effectively holding hostage – a family story all about hitmen, contemplation of suicide, attempted child murder, and women in refrigerators. You know, season’s greetings. If that’s not enough to make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, then perhaps the news that every ticket sold will be matched with a dollar toward Reynolds’s own anti-cancer charity (F*** Cancer/”Fudge Cancer”) will.
While Disney has absolutely nothing to do with Fox’s decision to sanitize and repackage their R-rated hit with a PG-13 bow, word is that they’re watching closely to see if a PG-13 movie with Deadpool in it (whether he’s the lead character or not) could actually work. Disney CEO Bob Iger previously stated that he wants to keep Deadpool R-rated following the merger, as long as they warn parents about what sort of raunchy fun they may or may not be bringing their children into first. So if X-Force and Deadpool 3 are made, then perhaps they’ll be released under the 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment banners instead of the Marvel Studios banner that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for.
Once Upon a Deadpool will be released on December 12, 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.
