‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ Director Defends PG-13 Rating, No R-Rated Cut

Sorry horror fans, if an R-rated cut of Five Nights At Freddy’s is something you’re hoping for, you can stop.

In an interview with Forbes, director Emma Tammi addressed rumours of an R-rated cut and shared that a PG-13 rating was always the plan so as to be inclusive towards teenage audiences.

“We knew that some of the fan base would want an R-rated version of this film,” said the director. “On the one level, we wanted to be inclusive of the younger audiences and knew we were going to hit the PG-13 rating, but for the audience that also wanted that level of violence, if you will, or at least insinuation of violence, we really wanted to still include elements that felt dark.”

“Of course, there are a lot of dark elements to see in the lore, but in terms of some of the kills and everything, it was just all execution dependent,” she continued. “I would say not to expect an R-rated version on this one. We’re really happy with how the PG-13 tone landed; it felt like the right fit for this particular film. We’re sticking by it.”

This isn’t the first time Tammi has defended the PG-13 rating for Five Nights At Freddy’s. In a separate interview, the director shared that a PG-13 rating was more creative. Tammi also wanted Five Nights At Freddy’s to serve as a good introduction to horror for teenagers.

“Going into production we knew that we wanted to really stick [to] a PG-13 rating for this movie,” the director said via Total Film. “It felt like it was important and really exciting to be able to include a younger audience to come see this movie. But we also, of course, wanted to deliver on the scares and at least the implied violence of a kill, even if you don’t see everything.”

“I personally find it sometimes more fun and creative to figure out the way to show the thing without explicitly showing the thing or without graphically showing the thing,” she added. “It lets your mind go to even darker places sometimes than when you show all the gore in the guts. So, I was really excited about that rating, to be honest.”

Five Nights At Freddy’s is an adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. The movie follows a troubled security guard working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. While spending his first night on the job, he realises the late shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.

The movie stars The Hunger Games‘s Josh Hutcherson as security guard Mike Schmidt and Piper Rubio as his 10-year-old sister.

Five Nights At Freddy’s is now out in theatres.