Did Power Rangers’ PG-13 Rating Hurt Its Success?

While the recent big screen Power Rangers movie was always intended to play to nostalgic fans, according to director Dean Israelite it might not have been able to court a younger audience. Some have speculated the PG-13 rating the film received contributed to only making $85 million domestically on its $100 million production budget.

Speaking to Screenrant, Israelite agrees,

“Definitely. And not only do I think it, but there’s been market studies on it, and the findings have been that if the movie were rated PG, I don’t want to go into the specific numbers, but if the movie had been rated PG, there would have been more traffic. I think parents were unsure if they could bring their kids to the movie, which surprised me, because the movie is a tame PG-13.”

While the movie did contain a few scary moments, like Rita ripping gold teeth out of a homeless man, it was about on average with anything you might see in a standard blockbuster PG-13 movie, which certainly hasn’t hurt the Marvel Studios movies or recent Star Wars films. Still, with Power Rangers‘ hitory as a kid friendly TV show the higher rating might have worried parents. It’s worth noting that Beauty and the Beast, which made over $500 million domestically (and right now, it’s the biggest movie of the year), was released at the same time and was rated PG. Israelite goes on to describe younger children’s reactions to the film.

“They (seven year olds) liked that they were scared of Rita, but they still came out of the movie enjoying it, they liked what was going on. I think we really tread that line well, so it was disappointing that parents didn’t know that they could take their kids to it.

It’s a shame parents might not have taken their kids to see the film but Israelite hopes that with the films release on home media, “parents will feel more comfortable. Maybe they’ll check it out for themselves and then see that it’s suitable.”

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The home media releases might be the last chance for a Power Rangers movie sequel to happen. Prospects for a second film are doubtful, although some strong toy tales could help. More on a Power Rangers sequel if we hear it.

Shamus Kelley is still glad the Power Rangers movie wasn’t dark and gritty. Follow him on Twitter!