Just like Interstellar, Inception and The Dark Knight Trilogy before it, Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic Dunkirk will be rated PG-13 at launch.
Word comes by way of Collider, revealing that the official MPAA listing declares Nolan’s wartime drama to be suitable for PG-13 audiences, mostly due to its “intense war experience and some language.” It’s not all that surprising, given the filmmaker’s aforementioned track record, but presenting the remarkable tale of Operation Dynamo – widely considered to be one of the most gruelling rescue missions of World War II – while confined to a PG-13 benchmark will no doubt pose some challenges.
Don’t go in expecting Saving Private Ryan or Hacksaw Ridge levels of violence, then, and though it would have been truly fascinating to see Christopher Nolan operate under the freedom of an R rating, the filmmaker has more than earned the benefit of the doubt throughout his decorated career. Besides, Dunkirk represents a colossal undertaking for Warner Bros. what with its triptych storytelling and all-star cast. Couple this with Nolan’s commitment to practical effects – early set reports claimed the director crashed a vintage $5 million warplane, one retrofitted with IMAX cameras – and you’ll begin to get a sense of Dunkirk‘s massive scope.
Slapping the WWII thriller with a PG-13 is enough to offset those financial risks, and it’s not as if Christopher Nolan’s work has suffered from this rating in the past. Then again, whereas the filmmaker’s recent efforts have been rooted in some form of fantasy or science fiction, and are therefore able to skirt around the absence of blood and gore, Dunkirk is a boots-on-the-ground war movie. In Nolan we trust?
It was the event that shaped our world and this summer, Christopher Nolan introduces the death-defying tale of Dunkirk to audiences the world over. July 21st is the date for your diaries, but what do you make of the film’s PG-13 rating? If you’re curious, WGTC caught the IMAX prologue that screened before Kong: Skull Island, and you can find out our thoughts here.
