This year's new Five Nights at Freddy's movie just got its unsurprising official age rating.
One of gaming's most famous horror franchises, Five Nights at Freddy's, will come to the big screen this October in a live-action movie starring The Hunger Games' Josh Hutcherson, Scooby Doo's Matthew Lillard, and more.
Hutcherson will star as security guard Mike Schmidt, who takes a night shift job at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza before realizing not everything is what it seems and surviving the night may be tougher than expected.
Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum announced the start of pre-production in August 2022 with a photo showing off his early work on an animatronic model.
Five Nights at Freddy's Age Rating Revealed
Universal Pictures' Five Nights at Freddy movie was officially rated as an unsurprising PG-13 for "strong violent content, blood images, and language."
Although some fans were hoping for an adult-oriented R-rated movie, the rating should come as no surprise to gamers as every game in the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise has been rated T (Teen) - meaning for ages 13 and older.
Blumhouse Productions - the studio behind the adaptation - have plenty of experience with PG-13 horror, having previously released five Insidious outings, M3GAN, and more hits under the age rating.
The reactions to the age rating from Five Nights at Freddy's fans have been rather mixed, with some, such @Mighty1Lucas, calling it a "missed opportunity" to have an R-rating and expecting the movie to be "a straight bomb:"
"This is such a missed opportunity, how can this movie not be R makes no sense my hype for this movie has gone from 100 to 0 this is going be a straight bomb"
Many saw the news coming and find it to be "not a bad thing at all," with @Pat_Scamander noting how Blumhouse "excel in how far they stretch that rating with their films:"
"We knew it would be. With it being Blumhouse though, they excel in how far they stretch that rating with their films, so it’s not a bad thing at all"
Five Nights at Freddy's famously has a large family and child audience, which @PodioCommentary pointed out is their "target audience:"
"I mean....I GUESS PG-13 is fine. They gotta get the kids in there (considering that is their target audience)"
Regardless, some still believe the franchise "should be rated R," with @Raddy2112 questioning whether it can work as "more child friendly:"
"Oh yeah, making a property that should be rated R more child friendly, I’m sure that’ll work."
Why Five Nights at Freddy's Age Rating Makes Complete Sense
Despite being regarded as a scary horror franchise, Five Nights at Freddy's isn't exactly known for blood, violence, and graphic gory content. The horror content in the games instead relies more on jumpscares and a frightening backstory, which generally makes them more friendly to younger audiences than most horror.
Although some may have been hoping for a mature adaptation of the horror mythos, an older age rating with more blood, gore, and violence could end up leaving behind much of the essence of Five Nights at Freddy's.
As the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise does have a massive younger audience, it only makes sense for the adaptation to have an age rating to reflect that. After all, if the movie were to be R-rated as opposed to PG-13, Universal would be throwing away plenty of untapped box office revenue.
The studio hasn't exactly shown much box office faith in Five Nights at Freddy's based on the decision to release the movie on Peacock and in theaters on the same day. The release plan has raised concerns for many about the actual quality of the movie, as it appears to demonstrate low expectations for the reaction.
Five Nights at Freddy's will release in theaters and on Peacock on October 27.
