While there was some chatter after the stunning success of DEADPOOL that DC’s upcoming SUICIDE SQUAD would be rated R, the official rating has now been revealed and it’s not at all surprising. According to Box Office Mojo, the David Ayer super-villain team-up flick will be PG-13 after all.

Ayer is known for gritty, violent, visually arresting, mature dramas. When you couple his track record with the decidedly grown-up subject matter of SUICIDE SQUAD, where a bunch of ruthless killers and criminals are brought together for a deadly mission they’d be lucky to survive, it’s easy to see why some would think the studio might allow an R-rated movie to come out of the editing bay. Even BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE has an R-rated “ultimate edition” blu-ray coming out that Warner Bros. has been happily promoting.

But, alas, the studio has decided to stick to its guns. The film was always intended to be rated PG-13, and they simply didn’t want to be reactionary.

Playing things conservatively makes even more sense when you consider that the studio is still reeling from the disappointment of BATMAN V SUPERMAN. They need SUICIDE SQUAD to do great numbers so that it’s upcoming slate of DC films can gain some positive momentum, and provide excitedly fertile ground for WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE. A PG-13 rating will help it reach as many people as possible, or at least that’s the conventional wisdom used by most studios- wisdom that DEADPOOL hacked to pieces in February.

So what do you think of a PG-13 SUICIDE SQUAD?

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo