‘Suicide Squad’ Targets PG-13 Rating

An R-rated superhero movie is fairly rare, which makes the Deadpool movie’s commitment to the adult-friendly rating pretty exciting. It’s not often we get too much blood and profanity in our comic book movies. But for those who were hoping that WB might pull the same with Suicide Squad, you might not want to get your hopes up.

In an interview with Collider, producer Charles Roven discussed the upcoming anti-hero ensemble film and the benefits of working with writer-director David Ayer. Roven also addressed the film’s rating, confirming that WB is targeting a PG-13 — but an edgy PG-13, you know?

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.

Roven also discussed Jared Leto’s commitment to going method as the Joker, the stories of which instantly became the source of many jokes around the internet:

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.

The actor’s wacky method approach also helped bond most of the internet together in its shared experience of mocking Leto. Everyone wins.

Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.