The Jared Leto-led “Suicide Squad” will not follow in the R-rated footsteps of Ryan Reynolds‘ “Deadpool”: The upcoming Warner Bros. film has officially landed a PG-13 rating from the MPAA.
The Motion Picture Association of America assigned it the rating for “sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language.”
Generally speaking, box office opportunities are far greater for films more inclusive of the general public, though “Deadpool’s” “R” didn’t seem to hurt it too much. Still, studios highly prefer the “PG-13” — especially for comic book films, which tend to skew younger.
It is possible, however, that a “Suicide Squad” sequel could go darker — all the way to an “R” rating. Director David Ayer has even said as much.
“For an R movie, you have to decide to do it right out the gate, and that was never the case here,” he said at April’s CinemaCon. “We were always going to hit the PG-13 rating. But the film is meant to be that. It’s got edge, and it’s got attitude. And it’s got its own voice … There’s a lot in the film that’s going to surprise people.”
“Suicide Squad,” which also stars Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Ike Barinholtz, Cara Delevingne and Viola Davis, among others, rolls into theaters on Aug. 5.