New York Comic Con News:  At the NYCC producer James Tucker announced that he had permission from Warner Bros. to make the animated, direct-to-video adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke the first Batman film of any kind to get an “R” rating.  The Killing Joke was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con as the next animated film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies Project (see “Warner Bros. to Animate The Killing Joke”).

Written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland, Batman: The Killing Joke, which was first published in 1988, has remained one of the most popular of all the Batman graphic novel (it was #6 in the most recent Nielsen BookScan chart for graphic novel sales in bookstores in September—see “September 2015 BookScan”). 

Tucker took to Twitter to caution that The Killing Joke’s final rating has not yet been determined, and “won’t be decided for a long time.”  Just because Warner Bros. Animation has permission to make The Killing Joke an “R” rated film, doesn’t mean that the film will end up with an “R.”  The DC Universe Animated Original Movies were originally designed to give older comic book fans animated versions of their favorite characters and storylines taken from the comics that were not bowdlerized to make them “safe” for six-year-olds to view on network TV on Saturday morning.  The question is will the producers of The Killing Joke take the next step and make it the first “R” rated film in DC Universe Animated Original Movies series?

If it does happen, it will be the first time that any Batman film, animated or live-action, has ever received an “R” rating.   Even Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight with the late Heath Ledger’s edgy portrayal of The Joker managed to get a “PG-13” rating.