Sylvester Stallone Says The Expendables 3 PG-13 Rating Was A Horrible Miscalculation

While the failure of The Expendables 3 can be blamed on a number of factors, one of the ones that [...]

While the failure of The Expendables 3 can be blamed on a number of factors, one of the ones that got most fans up in arms was the decision to rate the movie at PG-13, rather than the R-rating that its two previous installments had.

With a fourth installment already in the planning stages, CraveOnline asked creator Sylvester Stallone whether he thought the next film would be R-rated.

"Absolutely unequivocally yes," Stallone said. "I believe it 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."

The Expendables 3 also leaked online prior to the film's release, in full and in high resolution. It had been a while since a movie of that magnitude had leaked prior to release  in high quality, but when they did, films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back had unfinished effects, having been leaked somewhere along the post production line. The Expendables 3 was theater-ready when it leaked, and many think that hurt the film at the box office as much or more than the rating.

Early reports indicated that Chuck Norris, a conservative Christian who appeared in The Expendables 2 and had objected to some of the film's language, wanted a PG-13 rating for the third movie and that the studio hoped to accommodate him. Norris, though, didn't return for the third installment so those reports seem dubious at best.

The Expendables 3 is available on home video Tuesday, in both an unrated cut and the theatrical version.

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