‘Mortdecai’ Is Being Cut Down to a PG-13 Rating For VOD

In year already filled with high-profile box-office flops, Mortdecai is definitely in the running for the most spectacular of the bunch. If we were to count every reason this Johnny Depp comedy bombed with critics and audiences, we’d need a few hands, but we can boil it down to one key factor: It looked about as obnoxious as movies can get. But Lionsgate seems to think that the film’s R-rating may have been to blame, hence their unusual decision to recut the film into a family-friendly PG-13 version for its VOD release.

Don’t fret, Mortdecai purists! All three of you don’t have to worry; the film will still exist in R-rated form on Blu-ray and DVD. According to Forbes, those who choose to indulge in director David Koepp’s widely derided slice of mustacheploitation on VOD will be given the option of two separate cuts. Both versions will run 107 minutes, but one will remove the language and sexuality that made the theatrical version a soft R.

Look, there are few things more amusing than making fun of Mortdecai. And yet, there was something undeniably brave about Lionsgate letting their oddball Johnny Depp comedy into theaters with an R-rating. Rather than cater to families, they unleashed Mortdecai upon adults and said “This is for you!” Naturally, adults avoided Mortdecai because it was Mortdecai, but we appreciate the effort. Truly, we do.

In an age of PG-13 comedies getting “unrated” releases on home video, it’s strange to see the opposite happening here. Does Lionsgate really think that kids not being able to see Mortdecai led to its downfall? Show us a child jazzed to see Mortdecai and we’ll show you a child who we want nothing to do with. Ugh. Shouldn’t they be watching The Avengers again or something?

The tamer cut of Mortdecai will arrive on VOD on May 5, with the slightly edgier R-rated cut hitting stores on May 12.