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Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins Announced as PG-13

by Alex Billington
May 5, 2008
Source: Variety

The Halcyon Company made an official announcement today stating that the upcoming Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will be officially rated PG-13. I'm not entirely sure why they made such an effort to make sure the rating was this well known, especially when they haven't even really started filming, but it's a topic worth discussing. The important thing to note: all three of the past Terminator films have been rated R. This is the very first time any Terminator movie will be PG-13. This is similar to Live Free or Die Hard last year, which was the first Die Hard movie to be rated PG-13. Is this a concern?

Although the previous Terminator films, which have played quite well, were all rated R, the producers from Halcyon "thought it was time to broaden the upcoming fourth film's audience base, and they believe the PG-13 won't compromise the series' gritty vision." Let's hope their right, because from the sounds of it, they're more about money than about really keeping true to the spirit of the Terminator franchise. "Our merchandising program will be the largest to date for The Terminator." So the truth comes out! "We are carrying on in the tradition of the mythology, with an exciting approach to the action. If we can make a compelling film to reach the widest audience, why wouldn't we do it?" As much as they are trying to sound like a company that cares about the vision, Halcyon is really only about money in the end.

I think it's too early to start screaming about how problematic a PG-13 rating will be. I had a huge issue with Live Free or Die Hard because that series needs to be rated R and the "yippie-kay-yay motherfucker" line had to be a part of it or it would've lost all that made the series great. Unfortunately that's what happened. Although you could claim Terminator would lose the grit it had if it got rid of its always over-the-top violence, just look at Iron Man. That was a PG-13 movie that had a fair amount of violence and yet didn't feel like they cut back. Halcyon co-CEO Victor Kubicek says that "the ratings have changed" and that "PG-13 has increased in intensity." But we all know it's still about selling toys.

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, directed by McG of Charlie's Angels and We Are Marshall, starts shooting this week for a May 22nd, 2009 release.

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R-Bitrary

This is bullshit. How can they even consider turning this movie into a PG-13 rated film? Every other film in the franchise, as Alex said, has been rated R. This franchise has grossed billions of dollars. So...what makes them think this is acceptable to the fans that MADE the Terminator franchise the monster hit that it is? The movie is calle TERMINATOR, for christs sake. Its about machines that kill people. Who cares if that's palatable for 13 year olds? (It is, by the way, and the 13 year olds that want to see it, even if it were R would see it anyway.) I really don't understand this logic? Marketing? You gotta be fucking kidding me. Live Free or Die Hard sucked balls for many reasons, but it would have sucked a lot less if it had been a hard R, like EVERY OTHER DIE HARD FILM! This is extremely disheartening.
REAL6

THIS FUCKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Tirrell

Hell yea this is a concern! First of all in my opinion the final die hard sucked ass the stunts were way too unrealistic and the story wasn't believable. In their attempt to keep it PG13 they made it too far fetched sort of like the 2nd Transporter. They should stick to tradition and keep it rated R that's what TERMINATOR is all about. Fans of the Terminator saga love foul language, blood, guts, and death you take that away and we have nothing just a robot running around with no blood, guts or glory. In my book this is Strrrrrike One against Terminator Salvation.
DieHard Terminator Fan

Totally agree. Live Free or Die Hard lacked the visceral action of the first film. Still... it was 100 times better than the other 2 sequals. If it stayed true to the vision of the original - and therefore had to bear the burden of an R rating - than it could have been even better. But, as with any corporation, money talks REAL loud. Unfortunatly Terminator is now heading down than same dark highway... its future now uncertain... DH T Fan
Frame

There is no 'R' in "quality" and I think for this dud the least of their worries is the rating. As far as "grit" is concerned T3 had already lost a lot of that with ridiculous scenes like Arnold putting on that homo stripper's sunglasses. The Terminator franchise is nothing but a cashcow now, and although such a thing can be of high quality (potentially Indiana Jones, for example) I have little faith that James Cameron's creation will ever grace its former glory unless he himself has his hand in its related projects.
The Delightful Deviant

i don't see why it should matter, there was no actual nudity in any of the Terminators other than the few minutes in T1. blood and gore have never been an overwhelming factor other than a few gratuitous scenes I.E the fist in the chest in 1 and 3 and the ol' sharp object in the eye/mouth in 2. it is sound reasoning for the body count to NOT mount up in this movie because it takes place in the future after the machines took over, the human resistance is small, so the mounting body count is going to be purely Terminator Endo-Skeletons. cursing wasn't that big an issue especially after the sappy catchphrase filled T2. frankly i don't see why this is such a big deal really, there have been some really good PG-13 movies as of late.
Max

While on topic, Do you guys think that The Dark Knight should have been rated R as well ?
nha

Count me out - and I'm a big fan of the franchise. But that sucks donkey ass, and isn't worth a watch.
alex

James Cameron is the only one who can make a good terminator movie. Look at how fucking shitty the third film was. As far as I am concerned the last Terminator movie came out in 1991.
Fox

Like #6, I don't see any problem with the new Terminator's being PG-13, because the old Terminator's didn't have so much violence that requires a 'R' rating, for today standards. Comparing with (more) modern ultra-violent movies like Hostel or Saw, the old Terminator trilogy would certainly have a PG-13 if they were made today. I'm more concerned about a the new T's having a good script, good acting and great action sequences that turn this franchise in all that should always be from the first place - not a rehash of the same story over and over again (terminator comes from the future to kill John Connor).
Scorpio

This movie will be a success at the cost of the fans. The first 2 Terminator films were rated R for, not so much in blood and gore, but in the sense of unrelenting dread and unforgivingness. These "end of the world" stories are not for the PG-13 crowd, unless they star Keanu Reeves. This movie will be another one of those "Next on MTV's TRL, the cast of Terminator 4". I very sad demise indeed. Don't worry though in 4 years they'll remake "Terminator" anyway. What ruined Die Hard 4 for me was the lack of rhythm, heart, style, and atmospehere that the first 3 created. It also had a one trick pony for a director.
taurinh

they already lost me on this one
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

I think today Terminator 1 would be PG-13 but really, this is an R franchise.
Mattie

this fucking sucks Who is makeing this WB Made Number 3 are they still going to make it or some differnt
interl0per

Bleah, T2 was the last Terminator movie in my mind. James Cameron had something there. Now that these other hacks are all over the license like Lohan on coke they are bound to suck...the fact Cristian Bale is part of it gives me some hope though. In some respects PG-13 has become the new R, they seem surprisingly violent compared to years ago. I think R is becoming more reserved for movies with truly excessive torture porn and sex.
Winston

A PG-13 Terminator will completely suck balls
Jeff

First McG...now this. I honestly hope we are all wrong and this movie turns out to be good. But I can say I'm not as optimistic as I was before this news came out. It's all about the money.
http://www.napiersnews.blogspot.com Napier's News

I dont think a rating makes a movie as much as a director and/or script does.The rating is not as bad as the face that James Cameron is not involved. I think that there is a lot of ground to make up from a poor T3 and I hope this film can pull it off.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Wait. Who is making this? FOX or WB?!?!?!?!?!?! If it is FOX then they REALLY need to get a new President . If its WB this is quite surprising.
http://www.paynebyname.com Payne by name

It's a little concerning that the makers would think telling everyone that the film was going to be a PG-13 would be so important. I don't see what they hope to gain from it apart from scoring the obvious own goal that they should be more concerned about the artistic merit of the film rather than it's eventual rating. Maybe they should announce what it's exact running time will be in the hope that this info might help them also!
http://www.myspace.com/kail2007 Kail

I think they should make it G rated, that'd make it much better
Curtis

this movie is going to be a waste of what James Cameron created, it seems like all these people think about the money and not the fans that loved the three previous movies. I have some hope for it seeing as Christian Bale is in it, lets hope MGM doesn't fuck this movie up.
john

No Cameron no good. Cameron stopped for a reason and he did it to perfection. A rental at the least.
Uh, yeah. This'll blow.

I think this will be AWESOME!!!! Terminator was WAY too violent of a movie- and now we can watch it with the WHOLE FAMILY! I've always wanted to have conversations about SKYNET at the dinner table. Now's my chance!
William

Haha, I totally agree...what the hell are they thinking?
Oro_Spain

Does anybody know if the gossip about polish strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski playing new terminator is true? When I heard that I searched for photo quickly and I loved that news immediatly - this guy is just born to play new Terminator!
Tim

Rumours abound in Poland. Bizarrely, he was recently a finalist in a celebrity ballroom dancing show in Poland. Search for pudzianowski walc on youtube for some amusing footage
TROY

And with that gutless, toothless, bloodless WB remake of the (already insipid) Prom Night that made 20+ million in it's opening weekend awhile back, studios seeing tweener dollar signs are bound to CONTINUE watering down films intended by their very nature for adults so that they can sell a few more matinee tickets. Fucking PG-13.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Troy... I've got to make a simple correction. WB had nothing to do with Prom Night. If you look up the details, it was Sony. In fact, the production companies that made it have generally made some pretty terrible films otherwise... WB had nothing to do with Prom Night man. They're not the ones who are causing any issues with Terminator - hence why this movie isn't problematic. Fox, Sony, and New Line (now dead) are the biggest watering down studios...
Troy

Sorry for not clarifying my post, Alex, but I didn't mean that Warner Bros. Studios produced this film. I was using "WB" in reference to the old TV station that showed Dawson's Creek, etc. (and Buffy, to be fair), as a slander against all of these horror movies that seem to base their creative decisions solely along the lines of "how many 12-year-olds will insert-name-of-blankly-pretty-actor-here attract". Prom Night was a bad example of this dumbing down of genre fare to fit an inappropriate youth audience, or "WB"-ing it up for more money. I fear Terminator 4 just might go down the same route if the producers obviously seem to care more for the MPAA rating they wind up with than the movie they make, and whether or not it's honest to a saga about MURDEROUS CYBORGS (PG-13 fare?).
Jim

This sucks worse than anything that has ever sucked before. At least I can hope for one thing: an unrated, uncut, or directors cut dvd. This rating absolutely guarantees that the only way I will see this in theaters is if they're handing out free tickets at the megaplex. At least the TV show has a good excuse for toned down violence.
http://www.firstshowing.net tatoka

i bet the movie makers want to have an empty cinema,on the day of the release or maybe all of arnies political partners are gonna be all the screenings thus ,no kids.
Richard

You cant make this movie rated R.. Yeah they did it with Live Free or Die Hard, but John Mclane wasnt JOHN MCLANE in that movie. This is a mistake.
Angel G

Take that photo of Arnold off- that is the photo from the video game... shame on you for using that.. Be creative and original.. hey PG-13- well that means less bullets in people and more things blowing up..... I can live with that..
Steve-O

T4 should be rated R for the mere fact that if it isn't it will flop at the box office. You would think all of the people in Hollywood trying to get rich off movies would realize this as fact. Damn censors are going to be the death of great action movies.
Soak Cork

I heard that they were wayyy up front with the PG-13 rating because they haven't started filming, don't have a cast and are still trying to get the Governator (Arnold) to be in the movie. He is the ONLY way this movie or this franchise hopes to have a future. Get to the chopper, Arnold was the terminator.
the punisher

Two words, THIS SUCKS!. MCG must be dreaming if he and the studio thinks Terminator Salvation will make more money than Transformers 2. Warner Bros. and i suppose the Halycon CO. forgot about how the previous Batman franchise when they didnt keep it dark to make it more family friendly with Batman & Robin. They were all PG-13 films but the first three were considered dark while the forth wasnt. and it happend again with the Die Hard franchise after Live Free Or Die Hard. and now another studio is makin another great franchise weak. Anyways why bother complaining about it now when its a done deal. ill still see it in theaters and hope it damn well be action packed. furthermore i hope there will be a unrated dvd to make up for their screw up.
Xtremality

Hollywood has lost their balls when it comes to action movies. The last good Rated R action movie was Rambo.
Arcanus

Can all you complainers shut it! I don't give a care that this "was" originally a R franchise. And cut the krap with it 'needing' to be R. The movie "Oultander" was R for violence and it has 5 curse words, 2 kiss scenes. It has several bloody body scenes but that barely gave it R. The Terminator would have been PG-13 from the start just takes the nudity, and cut down the number of curse words. Don't you dare compare "Terminator" to Batman, Batman was PG-13 throughout without needing the blood,guts, sex, or cursing like "Terminator" to be good. For the record Batman's "The Dark Knight" beat 17 records and made 1 billion off theaters alone, so shut it. And I for one have been wanting to see "Terminator Salvation" becuase its PG-13. I will agree few R movies are worthy of true recognition. And if you don't pay attention PG-13 action movies actually have plot and story then R with few exceptions. If I were to pick only one PG-13 and one R movie for all of you and give it to you it would be: The Dark Knight, and Alien. Dark, gritty, pretty of action and a thick story. Terminator Salvation may be better then you exspect....if you gave it a chance.