It seems Ryan Reynolds is aiming for a galaxy far, far away, and it might just be a whole lot grittier than we're used to. The multi-talented star, hot off recent discussions about a Deadpool ensemble film, has now revealed a bold pitch to Disney: an R-rated Star Wars movie.
During a recent appearance on Scott Mendelson's The Box Office podcast, Reynolds shared his audacious idea. "I pitched to Disney," Reynolds stated, "I said, ‘Why don’t we do an R-rated Star Wars property? It doesn’t have to be overt, A+ characters. There’s a wide range of characters you could use.'"
Reynolds quickly clarified his vision for the mature rating, emphasizing that it wouldn't be for gratuitous content. "I don’t mean R-rated to be vulgar," he explained. "R-rated as a Trojan horse for emotion. I always wonder why studios don’t want to just gamble on something like that.”
While the prospect of Deadpool himself wielding a lightsaber might send shivers down some fans' spines, Reynolds was quick to distance himself from an on-screen role. "I’m not saying I want to be in it. That would be a bad fit," he admitted. "I’d want to produce and write or be a part of behind the scenes. Those kinds of IP subsist really well on scarcity and surprise. We don’t get scarcity really with Star Wars because of Disney+, but you can certainly still surprise people.”
The outcome of Reynolds' pitch remains shrouded in mystery. Disney has historically maintained a family-friendly approach to the Star Wars franchise, with the most "adult" offering to date being the critically acclaimed Disney+ series Andor, which carries a TV-14 rating. An R-rated entry would be a significant departure from this established norm.
Interestingly, the idea of a darker, more mature Star Wars has roots stretching back to George Lucas himself. Prior to the Disney acquisition, Lucas had announced Star Wars: Underworld in 2005. This live-action TV series aimed to delve into the "Dark Times" of the Star Wars timeline, focusing on the criminal underbelly of Coruscant during the Galactic Empire's reign. "Underworld" promised a grittier and more adult-oriented look at the galaxy, but its ambitious scale and reported $40 million per episode budget ultimately led to its shelving.
Could Reynolds' pitch breathe new life into the mature Star Wars concept, or will it remain another fascinating "what if" in the ever-expanding galaxy of unproduced projects? Only time will tell if Disney is willing to gamble on a new kind of "surprise" for Star Wars fans.