Asked by CraveOnline whether future installments of the franchise would go back to an “R” rating as opposed to the “PG-13” rating embraced by the third film, Stallone made his opinion abundantly clear.
“Absolutely unequivocally yes,” he answered. “I believe [changing to a ‘PG-13’ rating after two ‘R’-rated films] was a horrible miscalculation on everyone’s part in trying to reach a wider audience, but in doing such, diminish the violence that the audience expects. I’m quite certain it won’t happen again.”
In returning to an R- rating, however, Stallone hinted that the believability of the characters’ survival from one ridiculously dangerous mission to the next could itself become a casualty of embracing a more adult audience.
“It is a big conflict for me, because in an R-rated film it is difficult to believe that none of the heroes die,” he explained. “I personally just believe that the characters become identifiable and their demise could put a dark cloud over an audience exiting the theatre after seeing the film. But that may change in Expendables 4.”
The Expendables 3 arrives on DVD and Blu-ray November 25.
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