“Five Nights at Freddy's” Director Defends Horror Film's PG-13 Rating: 'We're Sticking by It'

"I would say not to expect an R-rated version on this one," director Emma Tammi told 'Forbes' of the rumors that a more explicit cut of the film might come

Five Nights at Freddy's director Emma Tammi is holding to its PG-13 rating.

Based on the popular horror video-game franchise of the same name, the upcoming film, starring Josh Hutcherson, surprised many when it wasn't given an R rating.

In an interview with Forbes, Tammi shut down speculation that a more explicit, R-rated cut could exist somewhere.

While the Freddy's filmmakers "knew that some of the fan base would want an R-rated version of this film," she noted, "I would say not to expect an R-rated version on this one."

"We're really happy with how the PG-13 tone landed; it felt like the right fit for this particular film," the director added. "We're sticking by it."

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Tammi also explained to Forbes that the filmmakers behind Freddy's "wanted to be inclusive of the younger audiences and knew we were going to hit the PG 13 rating, but for the audience that also wanted that level of violence, if you will, or at least insinuation of violence, we really wanted to still include elements that felt dark."

"Of course, there are a lot of dark elements to see in the lore, but in terms of some of the kills and everything, it was just all execution dependent," she added. "We really wanted to ensure that we were showing the right amount and doing creative things to insinuate what was happening or show what was happening without fully seeing it to still fit in that PG-13 category."

Five Nights at Freddy's follows Hutcherson's character Mike, a security guard starting out on his first night shift at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, surrounded by animatronics.

Things soon take a turn for the scary, however, as Mike realizes he might not make it through to dawn in one piece.

This movie adaptation comes nearly a decade after the release of the first Five Nights at Freddy's video game in 2014.

The game quickly became a phenomenon, spawning spin-off games, an anthology series, a novel trilogy and merchandise for gamers around the world.

Asked by Forbes whether there might be more Freddy's for the big screen down the pipeline, Tammi said, "I think we would all love to if this first one does well, and it seems like there's an appetite to move forward with future movies."

"I think we would all be so excited to do that. Here's hoping," she added.

Five Nights at Freddy's is in theaters and streaming on Peacock now.

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