'R'-Rated Animation: The New Blockbuster

'Sausage Party' poised for big box-office

We all know that younger moviegoers (and their parents) love pixels.  Animated films have always performed very well at the box-office globally and they are becoming more prevalent.

The trick, thus far, has been for film-makers to draw in adult audiences (sans children) by cleverly inserting adult humor and situation within 'PG'-rated films. And while these 'inside' jokes go over a tot's head the adult gets the meaning.

Now, the family-friendly-fun animated film is poised for a redo and launch into the strictly adult-friendly-fun category. Hollywood believes there is a big market for animated adult movies and so, we'll be seeing a lot more animation carrying the 'R' rating going forward.

A perfect example, is 'Sausage Party' (U.S. release of August 12th) which can only be described as a 'hard R' and meant to be.  With in-you-face adult humor and a whole lot of double entendre this is mainstream adult fare.  Due to great pre-release press, a huge favorable debut at the SXSW film fest, and a slew of YouTube downloads, 'Sausage Party' is set to be a box-office bruiser.

Aimed strictly at adults, computer-generated flix are going to be some of the best grossers in the future.  The studios are very aware of this genre's draw and will be pushing it hard. A film entitled, 'The Happytime Murders' will combine Jim Henson puppets with live actions and is expected to receive an 'R' rating.  Another, 'The Adventures of Drunky' is in the works, and as the name suggests is about the exploits of a sot.

There is a wave of adult animated features coming and they are about to hit the big-screen in a big way.