‘Scooby Doo’ Was Initially Rated R, Says James Gunn: ‘Yes, the Rumors Are True’

James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay for 2002’s “Scooby Doo: The Movie” confirmed this week that the script was initially rated R. “Yes, the rumors are true,” Gunn wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday — 15 after the movie came out.

“The first cut was rated R by the MPAA, and the female stars’ cleavage was CGI’d away so as not to offend. But, you know, 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,” explained the movie director, now known for the hit “Guardians of the Galaxy” series.

“Yes, it was not exactly what we planned going out — I had written an edgier film geared toward older kids and adults, and the studio ended pushing it into an clean cut children’s film,” he added.

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Gunn recalled fun moments from on set in Australia, like playing Nerf gun tag with the cast — which included Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. — and crew. “Truly some of the most fun I ever had,” he said.

Gunn said that 15 years ago, he was a lot more affected by reviews: “These days I might glance at the occasional review (admittedly, mostly only good ones), but back then I read EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. I also read everything written about the movie online, by, like, anybody, including bulletin board folks.”

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Despite bad reviews, “Scooby” performed well enough at the box office to give Gunn is choice in his next project. “I was offered every movie you can imagine. Like, uh, the Jabberjaw movie, and The Jetsons movie, and the Captain Caveman movie. I was offered tons of money to do all of these things. So, of course, me being me, I chose to write Dawn of the Dead. Go figure out my brain, who knows.”

Read his full post below.