Suicide Squad producer talks the Joker and pushing PG-13 to its limits

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

If you were somehow hoping that David Ayer's upcoming SUICIDE SQUAD would find itself slapped with an R rating, I've got some bad news for you. SUICIDE SQUAD producer Charles Roven confirmed the film's PG-13 rating while speaking with Collider, but followed that up by saying that the production would be pushing the rating to its limits.

The intention of the film is definitely to be PG-13… We really want to make these films tonally consistent so that, as I said because this is a shared universe, at least our current thinking—and again, we’re not dealing in absolutes because while this is business it’s also a creative endeavor, so you want to leave yourself open to changing your mind, doing something different, being inspired, that’s the whole process of filmmaking is you have to allow for inspiration as well as having a road map for what you’re gonna do. So our plan right now is to make all these films PG-13. In some cases, you know, right there on the edge of PG-13, but still PG-13.

It seems clear that SUICIDE SQUAD won't be hampered by its rating as studios have been able to get away with some very surprising displays of violence under a PG-13 for many years. One of the characters who will undoubtedly push SUICIDE SQUAD's darkness to the extreme will be Jared Leto's Joker. Charles Roven discussed Leto's devotion to the role, which included sending dead animals to cast members and isolating himself from the "heroes".

Look, you know, it was different, it was fun. The group first wasn’t sure because the AD’s had to call him ‘Mr. J’ to get him to come to the set [laughs]. And he did in many ways isolate himself from the rest of the group, but that’s really what his character was, the purpose of his character in many ways, other than when he was with Harley or trying to get Harley. It was very entertaining, it was fuel for a lot of good sport and a lot of laughs, and his isolation bonded the squad, and we wanted the squad bonded.

Roven went on to say that the SUICIDE SQUAD set "was one of the most fun sets ever. I’ve been doing this for a while, and the camaraderie that was built on that set—everybody couldn’t wait for the next day to come back to work.” Seeing as how the whole cast got matching "skwad" tattoos, I don't have any trouble believing him.

SUICIDE SQUAD will hit theaters on August 5, 2016.