Interesting news on the Bumblebee rating front, courtesy of eagle-eyed research by TFW2005 member Pepperonimus who found that two versions of the film are now rated: one PG, the other M.
The original version (114 minutes in duration) was classified on 20 November 2018 as M, Action violence; and a modified version of the film (of the same duration) was classified on 4 December 2018, also as M, Action violence. On 11 December 2018, upon application by Paramount Pictures, the Classification Review Board, which is separate and independent from the Classification Board, reviewed the modified version of the film and classified it PG, Mild science fiction violence and mild themes. Some scenes may scare young children.
Which rating do you expect to see in theaters? In the meantime, review our previous post for details about Australian advance screenings, read the entire press release here, then sound off on the 2005 boards!
rosewater
Is there a chance that we'll get the PG version in the states? My son is 5 and wants to see this, but based on the indulgent violence of the last five movies I'm hesitant to let him watch it with me.
griffin-of-oz
And that's probably why we didn't get the IMAX version here in Australia… the delay in getting it edited to get a PG rating meant it was pulled from the Melbourne IMAX schedule, and they said their upcoming schedule is now too full to slot it in later.
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Digger
Yeah. If that wasn’t gonna be cut then what was? I’m really curious.
Starscream Gaga
I just saw it advertised as PG.
Not sure what was cut?
was that always the case?
Deadend
Yup. Whereas 12A implies it's not safe for kids.
ambitron
In the UK we have "12A", which is much the same as PG-13 – under twelves need to be with an adult, anyone 12 or over can watch on their own. But clearly Paramount preferred the PG tag for the UK, because PG is associated with all-round family entertainment.
Digger
Well I just saw it and my ticket says PG.
Deadend
Abroad demographics are stricter with their ratings. So this provides for better box office revenue potential, whereas US audiences are used to PG-13 as moderately being okay for kids. Most abroad ratings boards don't have that PG-13 and go straight to implying 17+. So it makes sense paramount would do this to try and gain the best returns possible.
Pepperonimus
It seems like Paramount trying to push PG version for Australia the same way they did for UK.
AzT
2018 media releases | Australian Classification
Pepperonimus
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