The Motion Picture Association of America has announced a PG-13 rating for the much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
According to the MPAA, the latest installment in the beloved space saga features “sci-fi action violence” which might be inappropriate for younger viewers. This wouldn’t be the first film in the Star Wars universe to nab the PG-13. That honor belongs to 2005’s Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. All prior films in the series scored a PG rating, though to be fair, the PG-13 rating was created in 1984, after the release of the initial trilogy.
PG-13 is the go-to rating for most Hollywood blockbusters, with Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, and Furious 7 all having been released with parental warnings.
The Force Awakens is in good company, as eight of this year’s top 10 films were released with the PG-13 rating. This is the first film in the franchise under the Disney banner, and the studio shouldn’t be too concerned that the rating will hurt them at the box office, as the top five highest grossing films of all time – Avatar, Titanic, Jurassic World, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight didn’t see their numbers hurt by the rating.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.