Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has had a lengthy history in Hollywood, which started out in working with b-movie production company Troma. After helping write the film Tromeo & Juliet, he ended up writing the live-action Scooby-Doo adaptation of all things.
As strange a transition as that sounds, it turns out he originally had a much different film in mind. As he explained in an interview with EW:
“I had written an edgier film geared toward older kids and adults, and the studio ended pushing it into an clean cut children’s film. And, yes, the rumors are true — the first cut was rated R by the MPAA, and the female stars’ cleavage was CGI’d away so as not to offend. But, you know, such is life. I had a lot of fun making this movie, regardless of all that. And I was also able to eat, buy a car, and a house because of it.”
It certainly was a strange time for Scooby-Doo, reboots, and Hanna-Barbara cartoons in general. After all, Adult Swim used plenty of characters from the Hanna-Barbara archive to create their shows when the channel first launched. It would’ve been rather easily for Scooby-Doo at the time to fall into the same awkward, adult-oriented abyss.
Regardless, the adaptation we received was successful enough to warrant a sequel that Gunn also wrote. Although one can’t help but wonder what could have been if he got his way the first time around.
What do you think about getting a darker live-action Scooby-Doo? Let us know in the comments section below!
Source: EW