Sylvester Stallone says The Expendables 3 will be PG-13

May 19th 2014, 9:23am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The cast of THE EXPENDABLES 3 invaded the Cannes Film Festival this weekend with tanks (no, seriously) to help promote their upcoming movie, and while taking part in the stunt, Sylvester Stallone revealed the new film will be rated PG-13. Stallone originally wanted the second EXPENDABLES movie to be PG-13, but changed his mind after the huge negative reaction from fans.

So why will THE EXPENDABLES 3 be rated PG-13? Stallone says he wants to reach a younger audience with the third movie.

“We want to reach as many people as possible. It’s very close to an R, believe me, it’s right there. But I think we owe it to the next generation. We thought we’d join that club for a while.”

With recent R-rated projects from a few of the EXPENDABLES stars underperforming at the box office (ESCAPE PLAN, THE LAST STAND, BULLET TO THE HEAD, HOMEFRONT), I’m not surprised THE EXPENDABLES 3 will be rated PG-13, just a little disappointed. However, a PG-13 rating doesn’t instantly mean the movie will be terrible, or not as good as the previous films in the series.

Sylvester Stallone also says there will be more drama and less comedy in THE EXPENDABLES 3.

“With the first one, I didn’t know which direction to go. It was experimental, more dramatic and heavier. In the second one, I think we went too far in the comedy and one liners. (For the third film) I realized we should get back to being more dramatic. When men and women know each other, there’s a kind of human comedy, not jokes, but when the action starts I don’t like to do jokes. So, I believe we finally got it right on the third one. It’s kind of like marriage.”

Some of you probably aren’t too happy THE EXPENDABLES 3 will be rated PG-13, but if Sylvester Stallone thinks it’s close to a R-rating, I don’t think the film would really be that different compared to a higher rated version, and THE EXPENDABLES 3 will also likely get an unrated Blu-ray and DVD release anyway. I am very glad THE EXPENDABLES 3 won’t have as many jokes as the last movie though, and even with a PG-13 rating I think it’ll be a very fun movie to check out.

THE EXPENDABLES 3 will be in theaters August 15th, 2014.