Josh Trank & Venom producer didn’t see eye to eye on R-rated pitch

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Even though VENOM wasn't embraced by critics, the film was a huge hit with moviegoers, grossing $856 million worldwide. Some might attribute some of the success of the film due to its more audience-friendly PG-13 rating but before this version hit screens, director Josh Trank pitched an R-rated take on the character to VENOM producer Matt Tolmach and the two did not see eye to eye on the project.

During an interview with "Polygon" promoting his new film CAPONE, Trank discussed pitching an R-rated take for VENOM and it appears that Tolmach's personality really didn't mesh well with Trank's:

"I didn't like how Matt Tolmach was coming at me in that situation, because it felt very kind of authoritative. Well, if you don't like what I'm doing, and you're telling me that I have to do something along the lines of what you want, and you're going to tell it to me in this way – sorry, but I have other things I can be doing."

It might be hard to believe but Josh Trank once seemed poised to helm numerous blockbuster titles after the surprising success of 2012's CHRONICLE. The film was well-received by critics and was a box office hit, grossing $126.6 million globally on a $12 million budget. The movie told the story of three friends who gain superpowers after coming in contact with a mysterious rock and early hijinks ensue before things take a dark turn for one of them after they become consumed by their newfound powers. CHRONICLE is essentially a comic book origin story and it likely made Hollywood think Trank could take on larger properties in the future.

That big property came in 2015 with FANTASTIC FOUR and the tales of that movie's woes and eventual critical and financial failure is now the stuff of legend. Trank had such a bad experience working on the film that he went underground and fell out of sight. There was a lot of finger-pointing about what went wrong with the film from Trank distancing himself from the final cut by 20th Century Fox to rumors of him being unprofessional on set which only tainted the film's release. Trank is seeking a bit of redemption with CAPONE, starring Tom Hardy in the title role. That film is set to debut on demand on May 12, 2020.

I would've been interested in hearing Trank's R-rated take on VENOM. The film seemed like it was built to lean towards an R-rating but Sony Pictures ultimately went the safer box office route with its final PG-13 rating. Perhaps Trank shared some of his VENOM ideas with Hardy while they were shooting CAPONE together.  

Do YOU think VENOM should've been R-rated? Do YOU think Josh Trank would've been a good choice to helm the film?