One of the most anticipated upcoming horror movies will arguably be the only genre release this year to feature possessed animatronic animal musicians, and I’m of course talking about Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare. Wait, no, I’m definitely referring to Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which will show off more of Fazbear Entertainment core characters and locations when the sequel hits the 2025 release schedule. But while some things will be very different from the polarizing first film, one thing will remain the same: the MPA rating.
Five NIghts at Freddy’s 2 has officially been granted a PG-13 rating, which was definitely one of the more criticized elements of its predecessor. Take a look below at the elements that required that rating compared to the OG film’s PG-13 rating, which director Emma Tammi justified at the time
- Five Nights at Freddy's 2 - Rated PG-13 for for violent content, terror and some language.
- Five Nights at Freddy's - Rated PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images and language.
Interestingly enough, the sequel's genre-specific elements sound like they could technically be even less intense this time around, even though it's impossible to tell just from those limited descriptions. Losing the "strong" before "violent content" makes it seem slightly more tame, though I suppose "terror" could make for more intense scenes than "bloody images."
I can imagine that some fans will once again take offense with the new horror movie landing a non-R rating. But for the most part, I can definitely understand why Universal and Blumhouse went this route.
Why FNAF 2's PG-13 Rating Totally Makes Sense
Put most plainly and simply: lower age restrictions means higher ticket sales, because younger audiences are able to attend screenings without the need for parents or guardians who might not have quite the same amount of innate adoration for Scott Cawthon's creations. I mean, the key demographic for this movie is squarely in the pre-R age range, so it would be shooting themselves in their furry, robotic feet to limit access to such a huge part of the fandom just for the sake of being slightly more extreme.
Speaking to that, it also wouldn't make much sense for Five Nights at Freddy's 2 to get an R rating, because this franchise is inherently built on dread, suspense, and sudden jumpscares as opposed to wildly violent sequences, gory deaths, or any forms of sex and nudity. The first movie, which mostly avoided the jumpscare side of it, delivered some fun deaths that might have been more viscerally effective with more fake blood utilized, but I don't think those minor additions would have added that much value to the overall project. And again, it would have hindered the movie's massive theatrical success alongside the same-day streaming on Peacock.
One of the biggest mistakes, so to speak, made with the first movie was making it available to watch at home at the same time it was in theaters. Blumhouse and Universal execs made a point to avoid that same move. by opting for the big screen only when it debuts in December. So making that change would have been relatively pointless had the final cut of the film earned an R rating. Mo' money, mo' money, mo' Bonnie.
I absolutely would play an NC-17 game within this universe just to see what it would include, don't get me wrong. I'd go apeshit to see Chicka bludgeon someone's face inside out with a cupcake. But that game and any potential adaptations would necessarily be different from everything else in the franchise. When that happens, it might as well just be a totally different project.
Check out the trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and try to pick which moment you think would be made better with an R rating.
I'm not sure how someone would be able to measure how much money a movie would have made with a different MPA rating, and it would probably require a time machine or a Sliding Doors-esque situation. So in the absence of such elements, I'll just assume I'm 100% right on this one, and let a Withered Foxy take me down if I'm wrong.
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will hit theaters on Friday, December 5, 2025.
