Addressing recent buzz over the beloved family film, director Chris Columbus admits Robin Williams 'would sometimes go into territory that wouldn't be appropriate for a PG-13 movie.'

• Mar 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - "Mrs. Doubtfire" director Chris Columbus has confirmed the existence of an R-rated version of his beloved family film, starring Robin Williams as a cross-dressing nanny.

Fans begged movie bosses to release the unfriendly version of the family film after news of the alternative hit the Internet last week, prompting Columbus to address the Twitter explosion.

He revealed he shot Williams improvising scenes during the production, but insists they are unlikely to see the light of day.

"The reality is that there was a deal between Robin and myself, which was, he'll do one or two, three scripted takes, and then he would say, 'Then let me play.' " Chris tells EW.com. "And we would basically go on anywhere between 15 to 22 takes."

"He would sometimes go into territory that wouldn't be appropriate for a PG-13 movie, but certainly appropriate and hilariously funny for an R-rated film... I do remember it was outrageously funny material," Columbus said.

The filmmaker told the outlet he would only consider releasing the R-rated scenes for a documentary about the making of "Mrs. Doubtfire". "I would be open to maybe doing a documentary about the making of the film, and enabling people to see certain scenes re-edited in an R-rated version," he said. "The problem is, I don't recall most of it. I only know what's in the movie at this point because it's been a long time. But I do remember it was outrageously funny material."

He added, "I think that that would be the best approach. I'm very proud of the film... I'm in a good place with 'Mrs. Doubtfire', so there's really no reason to do the definitive cut. The definitive cut of 'Mrs. Doubtfire' is out in the world right now."

Columbus, however, denied that there's an NC-17 version of the comedy. "I only [previously] used the phrase NC-17 as a joke," he stressed. "There could be no NC-17 version of the movie."