One Of James Gunn's First Movies Is Blowing Up On Max

These days, James Gunn is known for giving us the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies and for heading up the new DC Studios over at Warner Bros. As the director gears up to unleash his "Superman" movie, we're all eager to see whether Gunn can finally make DC truly competitive in the superhero movie marketplace, even as audience interest may be waning.

Of course, "Superman" isn't Gunn's first foray into DC territory. Prior to helming DC Studios, his bloody, messy sequel "The Suicide Squad" was well-received even as a day-and-date pandemic release hampered its commercial performance. Meanwhile, his TV series "Peacemaker" was a vulgar, violent masterpiece, and will soon return for a second season that is set to meld DC animation and live-action. His "Guardians" movies for Marvel had been family-friendly affairs, and both of these DC projects allowed the director to embrace a more lurid, adult sensibility, and it will be interesting to see how the filmmaker works that into his vision for DC Studios. Will Warner Bros. demand a more accessible, wholesome tone for his big budget movies? Or will Gunn be allowed to turn DC Studios into an R-rated version of its Marvel equivalent?

If Warner CEO David Zaslav does rein in Gunn's more mature impulses, it wouldn't be the first time the man experienced such limitations. Back in 2002, Gunn wrote the live-action "Scooby-Doo" movie for Warners, producing a PG-13 script that was full of mature, racy humor. It was Gunn's first studio movie, with the then up-and-comer having only made "Tromeo and Juliet" and "The Specials" prior to penning "Scooby-Doo." But when the film debuted, it was in a sanitized form, with Warners recutting the movie to appeal more to children. The result wasn't quite what Gunn and director Raja Gosnell were hoping for — just take a look at that 32% Rotten Tomatoes score. But ever since, Gunn has harbored a fondness for his original vision, posting a lengthy tribute to the R-rated cut to Facebook on the film's 15th anniversary.

While the R-rated "Scooby-Doo" cut continues to languish in the Warner Bros. vaults, it looks as though Gunn can at least take heart that audiences are embracing the theatrical cut of film more than 20 years after it first debuted.

In his tribute to the R-rated cut of "Scooby-Doo," Gunn wrote about how he had written "an edgier film geared toward older kids and adults," and that the studio "ended up pushing it into a clean cut children's film." According to the filmmaker, one such example of this editing was that "the female stars' cleavage was CGI'd away so as not to offend." But even with major changes to his original vision, the writer remained fond of his experience, writing, "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 will surely please Gunn to learn, then, that "Scooby-Doo" is having somewhat of a resurgence over on Max. According to streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, "Scooby-Doo" has been in the top 10 films on Warner's streaming service for around a week, occupying the number four spot from October 17, 2024 to October 19. Since then, the film has slipped to number six, but it remains in the top 10 as viewers seemingly rediscover their love for the 2002 mystery adventure.

What's behind the "Scooby-Doo" renaissance? It's hard to say, although the spooky season likely has something to do with it. At the time of writing, the other films in the Max top 10 are all horror or horror adjacent (with the exception of "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths"), so the Scooby gang are surely being propelled by viewers' desire to get into the Halloween spirit. What's more, our nostalgia-mad monoculture remains hungry for forgotten or fondly-recalled films and movies that may not have fared all that well critically, but which formed a part of many now-adults' childhoods. If anything, then, now that all the kids who grew up on Gunn's version of Scooby-Doo are adults and are apparently keen to revisit the original movie, perhaps Warners should consider unleashing that R-rated cut?