David R. Ellis’ Shark Night 3D gets a PG-13 rating

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity guy. When it comes to movies, I try not to judge them until they’re playing in front of me. Further, I usually don’t let a rating influence my opinion. As we all know, there are plenty of great horror flicks that are rated PG or PG-13.

But when you get the guy behind SNAKES ON A PLANE and FINAL DESTINATION 2 – that’s David R. Ellis – to helm a flick called SHARK NIGHT 3D, I expect some R-rated carnage. I know the reserved approach worked flawless for JAWS, but no film will ever top that. Why not have some fun with it like the folks behind PIRANHA did?

Unfortunately, that will not be the case. The MPAA has rated the film PG-13 for violence and terror, disturbing images, sexual references, partial nudity, language and thematic material. Rumor has it that the higher ups at Relativity Media and Rogue were pulling for that rating. Whatever the reason, the news is likely to disappoint many.

The flick, written by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg, his theaters on September 2. Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Joel David Moore, Katharine McPhee (below), Sinqua Walls, Chris Zylka, Christine Quinn, Damon Lipari, Gill Monties and Donal F. Logue star.

Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a freak wake-boarding accident, the group realizes they have to get Malik to a hospital on the other side of the lake, and fast.

But as they set out in a tiny speedboat, the college friends discover the lake has been stocked with hundreds of massive, flesh-eating sharks! As they face one grisly death after another, Sara and the others struggle desperately to fend off the sharks, get help and stay alive long enough to reach the safety of dry land.