So The Expendables 3 Is Uncut/R-Rated Internationally?

Yesterday Collider.com ran an article indicating that the cut of The Expendables 3 being submitted to classifications boards is R-rated.  Actually, that’s not really news to us or followers of ManlyMovie.  We reported on this exclusively months ago, that that was likely the case. See: EX3 “R” Cut Already In Existence?  Word From Man On The Ground.  Our contact described the movie that was filmed: “The movie is violent enough to be R Rated.  There is so many violence and killing”.  I should point out that our contact is legit (he provided us with these pictures) and has no dog in the hunt.

The movie that was submitted to the MPAA was indeed R-rated.  And they classified it as such.  This wasn’t enough for elements seeking a PG-13 rating, so the movie was trimmed slightly to meet a downgrade. The important confirmation here is that the raw cut is R-rated, likely a soft R, but an R nonetheless.

And that means that it’ll likely go untouched in places like Europe and Australia, where the rating system is more diverse.  A movie that is a soft R in the USA will usually get a 15 rating in Europe or Australia.  A hard R will get an 18.  In America, the diplomatic “15” middle ground does not exist.  So what this likely means is that international markets, or at least most of Europe, will screen the R-rated version of The Expendables 3, albeit a “soft” R, like the last movie.  It’s a placebo effect and there’s not much in it.  Something similar happened with Taken on release, a slightly harder version of the movie was screened there.

I’m guessing that this (uncut, if you could call it that) version will see a release in the USA on Blu Ray, but Europe will get it right out the gate, due to flexible ratings and the ambiguity of how the movie dances on a “hard PG-13/soft R” threshold. Of course, they’re not going to make light of this – that an inferior version of the movie is likely being promulgated in North America.  Or that it’ll (probably) get an uncut Blu Ray release.  That would hurt sales and marketing.  Don’t expect to hear of an uncut Expendables 3 in the USA until the movie is well and truly done in theatres.

In fact, just to highlight that this is probably accurate, The Expendables 3 has now been rated MA-15+ In Australia.  This rating is the Aussie version of a US “R” rating.  For example 22 Jump Street has been rated MA-15+ in Australia, and “R” in America.  So is it confirmed as uncut outside North America?  No, but to me it looks that way.  If it is uncut, there’s probably very little in it.