Sony and Columbia Pictures have revealed that Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be rated PG-13 just like the first film in the symbiote series.
According to Film Ratings, the Andy Serkis-directed sequel has received the same rating as Venom's first standalone feature, with the MPAA giving it a PG-13 rating for "intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material, and suggestive references" despite speculation that Venom 2 would usher in an R-rating classification.
As pointed out by Forbes, the MPAA's rating for Venom 2 appears to be following a similar formula to its predecessor, which achieved box office success after opening in October 2018 alongside a slew of "restricted" studio releases, making it one of the few outwardly kid-friendly options to buy a ticket to upon its release in theaters.
Venom's rating opened up its demographic potential and that may have helped its box office performance. The movie set a record for the biggest opening weekend for the month of October when it opened in North America, earning over $80.2 million. After its record-shattering opening, Venom also performed well in its second weekend, dropping only 56.4%.
The first Tom Hardy-led Sony film ended up hauling in more than $854 million worldwide on a budget of $90 million, and even though the likes of Deadpool, Logan and Joker have proven that R-rated comic book movies can pull in big numbers at the box office too, it might not have been a smart play to shift gears with the Venom franchise now.
That said, Venom 2 has competition at the box office. A new poster for the sequel just confirmed its October 15 release, which means it's scheduled between No Time to Die, out October 8 in North America, and Dune, which debuts on October 22, but importantly, Venom 2 is still able to appeal to any younger cinemagoers who may have watched the first film.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.