R-Rated Venom Horror Film Coming From Sony

A standalone Venom film is currently in the works over at Sony Pictures. This new Venom movie, with a scheduled release date of October 2018, is being envisioned as a “Sci-Fi / Horror / Action” film and the horror element seems to be what’s pushing Venom towards its eventual R rating, as reported by Collider. With a screenplay by Alien: Covenant scribe Dante Harper, this will be unconnected to the current Marvel Cinematic Universe and questions are swirling as to how the studio will make this work as a feature and please fans at the same time.

Thanks a lot, Deadpool! Thanks to that film’s success we’re on the brink of a new rash of R rated comic book films. In the case of Logan, which has received close to universal praise, the rating was warranted and it was something that audiences and fans had wanted to see on the big screen for years. Now Sony is looking to get in on the R rated action with their feature-length Venom solo picture. Venom, originally created by Todd McFarlane, has long been the adversary of Spider-Man who is currently under joint-custody between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.

Sony has hit stumbling blocks in the past, and rather spectacularly. With their Amazing Spider-Man films essentially being low-grade rehashes of the classic Sam Raimi films, they very clearly jumped the gun by announcing an entire slate of Spidey-centric films before ASM2 even opened in theaters. This was not a good look for studio as that film was subsequently savaged by critics and audiences alike. Luckily for fans this led to the current sharing of the Spider-Man character between Marvel and Sony which brought us Tom Holland’s delightful take on the character; seen in Captain America: Civil War and the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Seeing as how this will be a standalone picture, it will be very interesting to as to how it all comes together. Will Sony go for broke with a truly brutal horror take on the Eddie Brock version of the character? Or will we get an unlikely take on the Flash Thompson storyline which featured Agent Venom? Only time will tell, but for now, it’s best to wait until October 5, 2018.