How ‘The Bourne Trilogy’ Helped Make Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Expendables 3’ PG-13
Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables franchise was initially rated R, much like many Stallone action films were in the past. Expendables 2 also maintained the same rating from the first. However, when Expendables 3 came along, Stallone felt it was time for a change.
Why ‘Expendables 3’ ended up being rated PG-13
Stallone sought to bring together a mixture of classic and contemporary action stars with his Expendables franchise. As such, the movie would feature actors like Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other actors known for their physicality. In keeping line with 80s action movies, the first two Expendables movies were rated R. Although both films performed decently enough at the box office, Stallone decided to go PG-13 for Expendables 3.
A lot of factors went into his decision. Stallone saw how some of the more modern action movies were able to draw in huge audiences going PG-13. But those movies still maintained a considerable amount of violence. Stallone felt his Expendables franchise could do something similar.
“The idea of PG-13 is that we wanted to reach a broader audience. And because of our predecessors, looking at the Bourne films and James Bond, we thought they’re pretty violent films. They’re extremely graphic without pushing it,” Stallone once said in an interview with Indie London.
Additionally, Stallone also felt the gratuitous violence that an R rating might allow could do more harm than good for the franchise.
“But I thought also the amount of violence, or the amount of warfare in this movie, if it was graphic then after a while it would become nauseating,” Stallone said. “I mean, after a while it just gets too much. Even though I personally enjoy it, it would be pushing the envelope. And also it would diminish the humor.”
Stallone quipped that the movie being PG-13 allowed certain actors like Terry Crews to avoid being killed off. Crews famously pleaded with Stallone not to kill off his character in the film. Expendables 3’s softer rating would’ve made it easier for Stallone to oblige.
“So, that’s the difference between, say, R and PG-13. It’s great advice for people doing a PG-13 movie – you can only get mortally wounded, not fatally wounded,” Stallone quipped.[
Sylvester Stallone later called ‘Expendables 3’ PG-13 rating a ‘miscalculation’
It appears that the PG-13 rating that Expendables 3 carried was only a one-time thing. Seeing as quite a few fans were against the change, they must’ve been very pleased when Stallone announced Expendables 4 would be rated R. The Rocky star learned his mistake from the third feature.
“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,” Stallone once told Crave Online (via IGN).
Stallone also clarified that the Expendables franchise would continue being R-rated for movies beyond 4. Another reason Stallone felt it was important to revert back to the rating was because it made characters’ fates less predictable.
“This is a big conflict for me because in an R-rated film it is difficult to believe that none of the heroes die. 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,” Stallone said.
Stallone kept true to his word. It took some time, but Expendables 4 would hit theaters on September, 2023. Some of the new cast members included the likes of 50 Cent, Megan Fox, and Tony Jaa. The film’s R-rating, however, did little to help its performance. The movie made $51 million at the box office against a $100 million budget, sealing its fate as a box-office bomb.
