'Lisa Frankenstein' Was Almost R-Rated, But There’s A Good Reason The Movie Went PG-13 Instead
Lisa Frankenstein is one of the first upcoming horror movies of 2024, one might wonder just how far down a bloody path the new release will take fans of the genre. As one of the early viewers of Lisa Frankenstein, I can attest Diablo Cody’s return to horror is not at all afraid to go there. When CinemaBlend spoke to the filmmakers about this unique spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, they discussed the movie’s MPAA rating.
As I told writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams during our interview, I actually had to look up the rating of Lisa Frankenstein after its release because it walked a really nice line between PG-13 and R-rated horror film to me. Here’s what Cody shared about how they decided upon PG-13.
As I told writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams during our interview, I actually had to look up the rating of Lisa Frankenstein after its release because it walked a really nice line between PG-13 and R-rated horror film to me. Here’s what Cody shared about how they decided upon PG-13.
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00:00 I was curious about the PG-13 rating because I felt like I actually had to look up after I was like was it R or was it PG-13?
00:07 Because I felt like it really like kind of like walked that line in a really cool way.
00:10 I was curious what the kind of conversations were. Did you want it to be PG-13 or was there ever like a time when it was going to be R?
00:18 Yes, there were extensive conversations on this topic actually.
00:22 And ultimately I'm very glad that it's PG-13 because I don't think we sacrificed any of the core components of the movie and now a lot more people are going to be able to see it, especially young people.
00:32 On the page it was definitely R and it was a very tricky needle to thread particularly because these violent deaths are so integral to the movie.
00:41 And I was like oh no, now they, wait hold on, how do I fix this?
00:44 Thankfully in this circumstance I was a bit prepared in advance for that outcome.
00:50 I have friends and peers that have walked me through that that is a sometimes expected thing.
00:55 So we had enough wiggle room that I could still keep it tonally very much the movie we set out to make but remove some of the stuff that would have made it R.
01:05 And it was tricky and it took a while but we figured it out and now it is PG-13.
01:10 team.
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