Many people forget that the first Terminator film was a straight-up horror flick. It earned its 'R' rating, and this gave the film the freedom to be as violent as the story required. A tale of giant skeletal robots from the future killing off mankind needed to be brutal, or it just wouldn't have the same impact.
Fans were understandably upset when the latest film in the franchise, Terminator Salvation, received a PG-13 rating. Of course, there were plenty of reasons to be upset with Salvation, but many felt that the rating held back what was already a generic action film. Unfortunately, fans are going to be upset again: according to one of the film's lead actors, Terminator: Genisys will likely receive a PG-13 rating as well.
Speaking with The Arnold Fans, Jai Courtney (who will play Kyle Reese in Genisys) spoke about the film's possible rating. From what Courtney has said, it seems that the film's language won't be a problem, though the violence was definitely still present in the script.
"I would love to see it be rated R, but I don't think it will. I think in this day & age, it's much more likely to be PG-13. There were no f-bombs. But there'll be a healthy amount of movie violence," he said.
Since shooting on the film has wrapped, the next step is post-production. Aside from being the stage in which all of the special effects are added in, post-production will also determine the final cut of the film, which will then affect the film's final rating. So, while there is still a slim chance that the film will indeed be rated R, it's far more likely that a PG-13 rating will stick.
Originally, the plan was that Salvation would kick-start a new Terminator trilogy, but following poor ticket sales, bad reviews and serious production company financial issues, that plan was scrapped. The rights to the Terminator franchise were bounced around between a number of different parties before it finally found a home. Currently, it seems that Genisys will test the waters: if the film does well, it's almost guaranteed that production on future films will begin immediately.
It's a shame that Genisys won't be rated R, but considering what Courtney said about the film's language and violence, it could be that a PG-13 rating won't hamper the film much at all. Granted, it would still be nice for the film to have the creative freedom to do what it pleased, but in today's era of every blockbuster film needing to be seen by everyone on the planet, a PG-13 is almost inevitable.
Terminator: Genisys will hit theaters on July 1, 2015.
