Predator: Badlands has so far gotten fans very excited, but a recent development might leave some worried. The upcoming film is the seventh installment in the Predator franchise and will feature a Predator in the protagonist role. Fans seem to be very excited by the pivot, but the movie is also about to break away from the standard R rating the franchise has had since 1987. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean director Dan Trachtenberg is delivering a family-friendly Predator film.
IGN reports that Predator: Badlands is aiming for a PG-13 rating, according to producer Ben Rosenblatt. “We’ll see where it ends up, but our hope for it is that it can be a PG-13 that feels like an R. That’s kind of our hope. And really, what that’s about is just being able to broaden out the audience for a movie like this,” said Rosenblatt. Currently, Predator: Badlands has no rating. The idea of a PG-13 Predator film should not deter fans of the franchise, as it still sounds like it will be plenty violent. Due to not having humans or red blood, the MPAA might be more lenient with the level of violence. Rosenblatt said:
“We don’t have any humans in the movie and so we don’t have any human red blood. So we’re hoping that’s gonna play to our advantage. We’re going to go as hard as we possibly can within those constraints, and we think we’ll be able to do some pretty awesomely gruesome stuff. But in colours other than red.”
Why ‘Predator: Badlands’ PG-13 Rating Might Be a Good Thing
Since 1987’s Predator, nearly every entry in the franchise has been rated R, including the recent films Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, both of which were directed by Dan Trachtenberg. If Badlands receives a PG-13 rating, it will mark the second time the monster has been featured in a PG-13 title, following Alien vs. Predator. The 2004 film’s decision to combine the two movie monsters from the R-rated sci-fi franchise was a controversial one among fans, resulting in the sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem being rated R. Of course, that R-rating didn’t automatically result in a better movie, as Requiem is widely regarded as the worst film in both the Alien and Predator franchises.
It appears that the fact that the Predator is facing off against other alien creatures, synthetics with milky-white interiors, and even fellow Predators who bleed neon-green blood might be what lands Predator: Badlands in the PG-13 rating territory. The MPAA has no hard and fast rules on what earns a movie a PG-13 or R-rating, but lots of red-colored blood tends to result in the latter. Hence, that is why family-friendly films like Star Wars can include intense action scenes and still receive a PG-13 rating, since no blood is shown.
Predator: Badlands‘ rating might also open the door for a much wider audience to see the film. The Predator is paradoxically a franchise rated R, yet one that is also very much enjoyed by young teenagers who can’t see it in theaters. This decision allows more moviegoers to buy tickets. Badlands might have cracked the code to allow the over-the-top brutal violence that hardcore Predator fans expect from the franchise, while making the film more accessible to audiences, potentially raising the box office potential.