We live in a time when an R rating is no longer a death sentence for a blockbuster and R-rated movies can earn over $100 million dollars in their opening weekend. However, PG-13 is still the sweet spot for blockbusters looking to maximize the number of eyeballs, and in keeping with franchise tradition, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will be rated PG-13. Death by dinosaur is a grim and messy death, but not so grim that teenagers will not be allowed to see it. The MPAA has confirmed the rating for Fallen Kingdom, and the reasoning is basically what you would want from a movie where dinosaurs hunt people:
PG-13 (for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril)
2015's Jurassic World also earned a PG-13 rating for 'intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril', and given the story of this movie and that it's set in the same franchise, it makes sense that Fallen Kingdom would get the same rating and reasoning. Intensity and peril is the bread and butter of the Jurassic franchise. As we've seen from the various trailers, this movie isn't going to be The Land Before Time, as it looks super intense, even more so than its predecessor. And with the nightmarish Indoraptor, just about everyone looks to be in very serious peril. The emphasis on violence also indicates that plenty of people will find out exactly what happens when nature bites back and suffer grisly deaths as a consequence.
We were never going to get an R-rated Jurassic movie, nor did we expect to, but within that PG-13 rating, this film can still be the scarier and darker film that is has been made out to be and looks like. Jurassic Park has never been about the gore of the dinosaurs eating people, but the thrills and suspense of seeing the characters try to survive these creatures. The thing about a PG-13 rating is that it covers a wide latitude of tone and intensity. Just don't expect to hear Blue to start spouting a bunch of curse words.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the biggest movie in a month of June that is full of a wide variety of titles across many genres that all look worth checking out in an air-conditioned theater. Fallen Kingdom is on track for one of the year's biggest opening weekends, expected to take in between $140-$150 million domestically. With an audience friendly PG-13 rating and a big marketing campaign underway, Fallen Kingdom is well positioned to maximize its audience to become one of this summer's biggest hits.
You can see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, from director J.A. Bayona, when it opens in theaters on June 22. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest in movie news, and check out our release schedule for everything hitting theaters this year.
