'The Expendables 2' Rated PG-13: Is It Because Of Chuck Norris?

[NelsonG]

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The Internet was on fire yesterday with the rumor that [url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/92584/personmain.jhtml"]Chuck Norris[/url]'s involvement in the upcoming "[url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/475178/moviemain.jhtml"]The Expendables 2[/url]" depended on the film earning a PG-13 rating. The news stemmed from an interview Norris had with Polish outlet [i]Gazeta[/i] where he claimed that he wouldn't be a part of the movie if it included all the potty language that was in the script.

Well, it turns out that the PG-13 part is actually true. [url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/99626/personmain.jhtml"]Sylvester Stallone[/url] responded to the rumor to [url="http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52774"]Ain't It Cool News[/url] and said, yes, the bad boys of action films are going to be toning it down a notch in the upcoming sequel. But that is not to say that the movie won't be as much fun as "The Expendables" was.

"The PG13 rumor is true, but before your readers pass judgement, trust me when I say this film is LARGE in every way and delivers on every level," Stallone said. "This movie touches on many emotions which we want to share with the broadest audience possible, BUT, fear not, this Barbeque of Grand scale Ass Bashing will not leave anyone hungry."

In addition, he said that [url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/64008/personmain.jhtml"]Jean-Claude Van Damme[/url]'s performance is the one that audiences should look out for.

"The film is fantastic with Van Damme turning in an inspired performance," Stallone said. "Our final battle is one for the ages."

It's still not clear whether Norris was the sole reason that "The Expendables 2" was downgraded from R to PG-13, or just one of several factors. At the very least, Lionsgate must be pleased with the switch because this now means that the movie will open to a wider, younger audience.

Here's the original Norris quote as transcribed by [url="http://www.slashfilm.com/rumor-the-expendables-2-rated-pg13-chuck-norris/"]/Film[/url]: "With 'The Expendables 2,' you have a lot of hard language in there that means that young people won’t be able to see it. I said, I don’t do movies like that. I didn’t do them in the past, I didn’t do them on my TV series. I said, you have to cut out all the language, hardcore language or I can’t do it. So they did, and Expendables is now a PG-13 film so kids can see it."

"The Expendables 2" is due in theaters on August 17. It also stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[i]Are you still interested in "The Expendables 2" even though it's not going to be rated R? Tell us in the comments section below or on [url="http://twitter.com/mtvmoviesblog"]Twitter[/url].[/i]



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