‘Half-Blood Prince’ Gets a PG-rating

The MPAA releases their batch of film ratings weekly, and there was an interesting surprise in this weeks group. Â  They have given ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ a PG-rating. Â  Now, granted, the first three ‘Harry Potter’ films were rated PG, but, then, the next two went up to a PG-13. Â  Because of their darker nature, the MPAA felt that ‘Goblet of Fire’ and ‘Order of the Phoenix’ were not appropriate for children of all ages.

This is unusual since most franchises that go up in the ratings tend not to come back down. Â  Usually, a sequel to a film will be PG-13 when the first one or the first couple were R, but it’s hardly ever been an up and then back down affair as we have here. Â  It will be even stranger, because, having read the novels, I cannot imagine ‘Deathly Hallows’ getting a PG.

I can’t imagine Warner Bros. was pushing for a PG-rating due to box office. Â  Four of the last five ‘Harry Potter’ films have grossed over $250 million domestic, and the one, odd man out, ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ made $249.5. Â  On a side note, it does suck that the best film of the series also made the least amount of money.

What do you think? Â  Was Warner Bros. pushing the film to get a PG-rating? Â  Did it just work out that way? Â  Will the ‘Deathly Hallows’ take the franchise back up into the PG-13 territory? Â  Let us know by commenting below!

Source: Film Ratings