Beowulf R-Rated Trailer
International Spot for Robert Zemeckis Movie
Days after the first Beowulf trailer showed up, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Robert Zemeckis unleash an R-rated version for the international market.
It’s become common practice for studios to release two trailers: one to please the MPAA, who demand that all previews be ‘G’-rated, no matter what their eventual designation might be, and a second ad that runs in Cyberland and in less-censorious (Is that a word? It is now) international markets.
We’ve seen this twice already: first with the live-action Seth Rogen-produced comedy Superbad, and also with the upcoming vampire flick 30 Days of Night. Animated movies have been previously immune to this practice, mainly because the vast majority of them are going for the family-friendly ‘G’ or ‘PG’ ratings and therefore have no need to get racy with the trailers.
However, Robert Zemeckis, Warner Bros. and Paramount have decided to push the envelope with an R-rated trailer, for their upcoming motion-capture movie Beowulf. This new spot came out a couple of days after the first trailer hit the scene.
So what’s the difference between this one and the first, “suitable for all audiences” trailer? I’ll give you two words: Angelina Jolie.
This movie is based on the 9th Century epic poem, which follows the adventures of the mighty Geat (no, that’s not a typo) warrior Beowulf (voice by Ray Winstone, body by Alan Ritchson), who offers to kill Grendel, the monster who has been tormenting King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and slaughtering his warriors. Jolie portrays Grendel’s mother, who comes looking for revenge after Beowulf mortally wounds her son in single combat. Jolie has specialized in playing characters who combine a fair amount of menace with their sexuality (Girl, Interrupted, Original Sin), and she’s a natural in this role.
This trailer still shows Jolie as Grendel’s Mother, alternately menacing and entrancing the warrior who has entered her underwater cave in order to kill her. However, unlike the first one, this trailer shows a lot more of what Jolie is not wearing.
“Give me a son,” Grendel’s mother purrs to Beowulf in the trailer, “and I shall make you the greatest king that ever lived. This I swear.”
Film geeks everywhere would probably go “Woo-hoo!” but I have the sneaking suspicion Beowulf might want to get that promise in writing.
You can check out the R-Rated Beowulf trailer by clicking here. The movie hits theatres on November 16th.
Fun Fact: Besides Beowulf, Angelina Jolie has two other voice-acting roles to her credit. she voiced Lola the Angelfish in DreamWorks Animation’s 2004 flick Shark Tale, and she will play Tigress, a martial arts mentor to Jack Black in DreamWorks’ upcoming Kung Fu Panda.
