Last week we were finally hit with the killer trailer for producer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal’s upcoming horror flickScary Stories to Tell in the Darkbased on the children’s book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz. The movie looks to be a terrifying journey into the world of the infamous short stories, and I’m not sure if Del Tor and company are aiming it towards kids, which is strange considering the filmmakers based the movie on a trio of kid’s books. But if you were left wondering the same thing, no worries, as today we have word via Del Toro himself that the film aims to be a family-friendly-ish motion picture sporting a PG-13 rating.
Specifically,Guillermo del Torosays of director André Øvredal’s adaptation ofScary Stories to Tell in the Darkanticipated rating.
“The anticipated rating is PG-13. I wanted to have standees that said, ‘You have to be this tall to see this movie,’ butsomebody beat us to it, so what can we do [laughs]? But the idea is the books are a favorite among young readers, and I think that there are two or three generations of parents that know the books, too. So, it’s really going to be a ride, but there is a safety bar in it.”
Now, this is all good but let’s not forget that sometimes Del Toro’s best intentions of making a family-friendly movie have gone sideways in the past. Specifically, the Del Toro-produced fright flickDon’t Be Afraid of the Darkstarring Katie Holmes was originally meant to be a PG-13 affair, but then the MPAA slapped it with an R-rating just because it was so scary. When Del Toro asked them if there was anything he could do, the rating board said, ‘Why ruin a perfectly scary movie?’
And on top of that, believe it or not, James Wan wasoriginally aiming for a PG-13rating for the originalThe Conjuringflick. Executive producer Walter Hamada said back in 2013 the filmmakers asked the MPAA why the had slappedThe Conjuringwith an R-rating and they said the movie was “just so scary” and that there were no specific scenes or tone Wan and company could take out to get it PG-13.
All of this is to say that it won’t surprise this here horror fan if at the end of the day Del Toro and Øvredal’sScary Stories to Tell in the Darkends up slapped with an R-rating for merely being scary as sh*t. Let’s hope so, you know?
Del Toro and Øvredal’sScary Stories to Tell in the Darkstars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, and Javier Botet. Del Toro produces the movie along with Sean Daniel, Jason F. Brown, J. Miles Dale, and Elizabeth Grave. André Øvredal directs from a screenplay written by Dan and Kevin Hageman based on a story by Del Toro, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan based on the books by Alvin Schwartz. This story comes to us from theScary Stories to Tell in the Darkpresentation panel by way ofDaily Dead.
