Producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia revealed that Black Adam originally received an R rating for the violence in the film. The movie had ten violent killing scenes which earned it a Restricted rating. It took four rounds of cuts before the Motion Picture Association agreed to lower the rating to PG13. The film had originally intended to push the boundaries of violence in a PG13 movie considering the source material. According to Garcia, “We really wanted to make sure that we honored the character of Black Adam. One of the things he’s known for is his aggression and violence, and to do a Black Adam movie that didn’t have that just wouldn’t have been authentic. So we always went into this knowing that we were going to push it as far as we did.” “It took four rounds [with the MPA], and [the movie] just got the PG-13, I think, maybe four or five weeks ago,” adds Flynn. According to the producers, the movie had to scale back the violence in the film to earn a PG13 rating. “We did have to make a lot of edits, actually. There are some personal moments that we really love, but we had to let them go,” Flynn recalls. The producer also reveals that the movie “had some really cool moments, and if you notice, there are some great moments when Black Adam is in the fly bike chase sequence and drops one of the intergang soldiers. Then there’s this great moment where the truck bounces over the body. But those are moments that you need and remember in these movies, you know what I mean?” The number of violent killing scenes in the film was trimmed down to five to earn the desired rating. The producer also states that “some compromise with the MPAA” had to be made for the ratings. Garcia also mentions the collaboration with the MPAA, explaining the “collaborative process with the MPAA to finally get it to where we were able, to get that rating, but we were able to pull it off,” the producer explains. The scenes that have been edited out may appear in a director’s cut that could be released later on. According to Flynn, the team already has plans for a home and streaming release. “There are going to be some features for when we release on home video and streaming. There’ll be some cool elements for that too, but that’s something we’re talking about.” Achieving a PG13 rating is guaranteeing Black Adam’s success at the box office. An R rating would’ve limited the audience to those who are 18 years old and above, which will have an effect on its box office numbers. Having a successful and profitable first film would ensure the future of Black Adam in the DCEU. Flynn reveals “we have so many ideas of how we can take to the next level and hope it [Black Adam] will be embraced in the way we’d like. Then it gives us such a great playing field to really push to a new level in future installments if we’re so lucky.” The producers shouldn’t be too worried as initial reviews of the movie have been extremely positive. Fans who have been lucky enough to see the film describe it as the most action-packed movie in the DCEU. Black Adam will open in theaters on October 21, 2022.
