‘Shazam!’ Director David F. Sandberg Talks R-Rated Films After ‘Joker’ Success

Shazam! director David F. Sandberg shares his hopes on R-Rated films from big studios after Joker reaches the $1 billion mark at the global box office.

Earlier today, it was announced that Todd Phillips’ R-Rated character study on The Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime in Gotham was on track to clear the $1 billion mark, exceeding all expectations and becoming the first R-Rated film to do so in history. With the success of Joker, another DC Comics movie director in David F. Sandberg shared his thoughts on the matter as well as his hopes for what it could mean.

You can read Shazam! director David F. Sandberg’s thoughts on Joker’s unprecedented box office success down below:

It’s worth noting that Joker while being the first of its kind to hit the $1 billion mark is not the first R-Rated film to achieve such massive box office success. Previous record holders include Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Deadpool 2 as well as It (2017), The Passion of the Christ, The Matrix Reloaded and Logan. 

David F. Sandberg’s comments on studios not being afraid to greenlight R-Rated films after the success of Joker reflect on the studio’s typically-preferred PG-13 rating for big tentpole films. Obviously, R-Rated films are more reflective of what type of content and story filmmakers are pushing for, so despite his comments here, don’t expect David F. Sandberg to turn a Shazam! sequel into an R-Rated film just because he thinks Joker’s success and his thoughts on R-Rated films in the future look optimistic. At the end of the day, some tones work better for certain films over others, and despite being under the same studio and comic book brand, Shazam! and Joker are completely different films.

What do you think of Shazam! director David F. Sandberg’s comments here? Do you agree with him and hope studios learn the right lesson following the unprecedented box office success of Joker? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to continue following Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news on David F. Sandberg’s Shazam!, Joker and the future of DC Comics on the big screen.

Shazam! is now available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.

Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.

Joker is now playing in theaters!

Source: Twitter