Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Gets Official Rating

The original Beetlejuice is a seminal experience for burgeoning horror fans, as its slapstick nature allows younger audiences to get their first taste of terror, but the MPA has confirmed that the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has scored a PG-13 rating as compared to the original’s PG rating. The sequel earned the rating for “violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material, and brief drug use,” and while some of these elements can be found in the original movie, it’s currently unknown if this follow-up manages the same tone of the debut movie or if it takes the more intense subject matter to new heights. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice lands in theaters on September 6th.

Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, a number of movies landed in theaters with PG ratings, despite their intense subject matter. In 1984, Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom landed in theaters with PG ratings, despite their violence and intense sequences, which resulted in the development of the PG-13 rating. Even though Beetlejuice was released in 1988 when the PG-13 rating had become commonplace, it still only earned a PG, despite the scene in which Keaton’s Beetlejuice quips, “Nice f-cking model!” 

The new movie is described, “Beetlejuice is back!After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River.Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.”

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson.The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper, and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes include director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th.

Are you surprised the movie earned a PG-13 rating? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!