'Breaking Dawn' Won't Be Rated R, Summit Promises

'Breaking Dawn' Won't Be Rated R, Summit Promises
'I can't say for a fact, but I just don't see us getting into an R-rated area,' studio's distribution chief tells MTV News.



In the "Twilight" universe, there are levelheaded questions — will "Breaking Dawn" be in 3-D? — and then are the improbable, yet intriguing, ones. Among the more puzzling queries is whether, based on the many scream-inducing elements of its source material, "Breaking Dawn," will draw an R rating instead of the usual, Twi-approved PG-13.

It's hard to imagine Summit Entertainment making a "Twilight" movie that would require its tween-heavy audience to convince adults to buy them movie tickets, but the idea nonetheless remains a topic of discussion in the blogosphere. So we decided to put the question to Summit. While the studio acknowledges that discussions about an R rating are definitely taking place ("By all means," said distribution chief Richie Fay), the studio remains committed to its tried-and-true PG-13.

"I don't see it ever becoming an R-rated movie," Fay told MTV News. "The middle road we have to travel is a mutual respect as to staying true to the book but not turning off your audience.

"It's always with the eye of making Stephenie Meyer happy and making the audience happy," he added. "I can't say for a fact, but I just don't see us getting into an R-rated area with any of the 'Twilight' titles."

That sentiment jibes with what "Breaking Dawn" scribe Melissa Rosenberg has been saying for a while.

"In this series, you don't sacrifice anything," she said in April. "There are some movies that wouldn't play at PG-13, like 'The Hangover,' but this is just not one of them for me. Again, if you're capturing character, emotion and emotional journey, you're OK."

Do you think an R-rated "Breaking Dawn" would make for better movies?