How PG-13 Draws Bigger Money In More Ways Than One

When we think of a movie that should by all rights be R-rated being downgraded to PG-13, we simply think of it as a greedy ploy to draw in more cash.  A crude and bald faced move.  That is true but there are methods behind the greed also.  People like Avi Lerner enjoy not making movies but the thrill of turning over five bucks at the expense of one – and all the possible ways to do it.

One of the key considerations in making The Expendables 3 PG-13 has been the scheduling system of the modern cinema.  Put simply in many cinemas the more violent your movie is, the less chance it has of being screened earlier in the day.  This can result in less profits, especially when it comes to the weekend.  This is especially important when you consider that movies for many bigwigs these days, live and die on the report of their first few weeks of showing.  The first weekend and to a lesser extent the few weekends that follow are crucial in today’s box office battleground. So maximum exposure is highly sought after and more kids and families go to the movies in the afternoon on weekends than on weekdays.

However while this is true of many movies that are inherently PG-13 and ‘matinee’ material, it does not apply to The Expendables 3.  The kids do not pay to see The Expendables not because it is shown too late, because they are refused entry or simply because the movies are too violent.  They don’t pay to see them because they couldn’t give a solitary fuck about actors they’ve never heard of.  And that’s understandable. Do you care about Miley Cyrus’ latest movie?  No?  What… you haven’t paid to see Daniel Radcliffe’s latest?

Well, by the logic of Avi Lerner, damnit, they should get with the programme and  forcibly rate those movies differently.  That’ll make all the difference and it will probably even force them into a later slot, thereby giving you no excuse to not see them. Of course, this reasoning is completely detached from reality.  And if they did try this with something like, I dunno, The Hunger Games, the uproar would be palpable.  Too many would not accept it.

Unfortunately a calculation was made by Sylvester Stallone and Avi Lerner, a business calculation, that yes there’d be uproar, but it financially acceptable uproar in the doomed gamble to outdo previous box office. Unless you’re one of those people who want Stallone to remain relevant more than you want him to make a good movie, you’re Expendable.  Actually those types of fans are Expendable too, they’re just more pathetic.

P.S. The same applies for Schwarzenegger fanboys who decry ‘traitors’ (yes, certain website owners are actually firing this word at others – guess who) not on board team PG-13/relevancy lust.