Greyhound, Come Play and More in This Week's MPAA Ratings Bulletin

By Chris Kavan - 03/18/20 at 12:33 PM CT

While the world of cinema may be going through hell - the MPAA Ratings Board soldiers on. It's actually quite a big list this week, but despite the quantity, quality-wise there are still only two major releases that are still (potentially) coming out in the near future. Tom Hank (currently under quarantine with his wife, Rita in Australia) stars in yet another war drama, this time playing an untested navy captain in the early days of WWII as he attempts to lead an allied convoy while being chased by a German U-boat wolfpack. The other is yet another full=length feature based on a scary short (Larry) in Come Play. I'm just glad I have something to write about as it's looking less and less likely the weekend update will be coming out and the weekend preview blog is out until April at the earliest.

MPAA Official Logo

Tom Hanks is a national treasure and I am hoping for a quick recovery. But as Hanks uses way too much Vegemite in quarantine, we can look forward to Greyhound. As stated above, Hanks portrays Commander Ernest Krause, a navy captain on his first major assignment as he takes command of an allied convoy of 37 ships. But he soon comes under attack from a group of German U-boats, known as a wolfpack, and must do everything in his power to assure the convoy reaches its destination. Based on true events, while so many WWII films focus on the major battles - it turns out the North Atlantic was its own battlefield - considered the longest continuous military campaign of the war - with a result of the loss of 3500 merchant ships, 175 warships and 783 U-boats. That's why a film like Greyhound is important - while D-Day has its place, it's not the only battle of the war. Hanks is joined by Elisabeth Shue, Stephen Graham, Karl Glusman, Lee Norris, Maximilian Osinski, Tom Brittney and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo among a host of others. This looks to be the "big" war film of the year - of course, assuming its June 12 release date remains unchanged (May releases are already being pushed off the schedule so we'll see). Rated PG-13 for war-related action/violence and brief strong language.

Turning short films into full-length features is nothing new - with many prominent directors (from George Lucas to Paul Thomas Anderson to Mike Judge) basing big films on small projects. But horror is uniquely positioned to benefit and YouTube has become a hotbed for some great horror shorts and series over the years. Lights Out based on a short by David F. Sandberg, went on to make over $67 million domestic and nearly $150 million worldwide. Now, director Jacob Chase is hoping to have the same success with Come Play based on his horror short "Larry". The film follows Oliver (Azhy Robertson), a quiet, lonely boy who finds solace like so many children these days - over the screens of mobile devices. But when he releases a malevolent evil, his parent must work to stop the entity and save their son. Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr., Rachel Wilson, Winslow Fegley and Jayden Marine round out the cast. The short film is a typical "gotcha" type horror where the tension builds up to jump ending (not that different from Lights Out). Lights Out managed to build up a decent story around its hook - we'll see if Come Play can do the same thing, and find the same success, when it premiers. Rated PG-13 for terror, frightening images and
some language.

Those are the two major films for this week, but the MPAA Ratings Board has been plenty busy so check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:

ABOVE SUSPICION

Rated R for sexual content and drug use throughout, language and some strong violence.


ARKANSAS

Rated R for violence, language throughout, drug material and brief nudity.


CANADIAN STRAIN

Rated R for drug content and language throughout, and some sexual material.


CHEMICAL HEARTS

Rated R for language, sexuality and teen drug use.


COME PLAY

Rated PG-13 for terror, frightening images and some language.


DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET

Rated PG for thematic content.


ENOLA HOLMES

Rated PG-13 for some violence.


EXTRACTION

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, language and brief drug use.


GREYHOUND

Rated PG-13 for war-related action/violence and brief strong language.


JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE

Rated PG for thematic material including some racial epithets/violence, and for smoking.


LEGACY OF LIES

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.


THE LEGION

Rated R for some violence and language.


ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK

Rated R for violence, language, some sexuality, nudity and brief drug use.


OUTBACK

Rated R for some language.


PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Rated R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use.


TESLA

Rated PG-13 for some thematic material and nude images.


YELLOW ROSE

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, and teen drinking.


YES, GO, YES

Rated R for sexual content and some nudity.

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