Fans’ prayers have been answered: The German age rating for the sci-fi action hit “Predator: Badlands” is here

The German age rating for the sci-fi action film “Predator: Badlands” is finally here. Fans of the series can breathe a sigh of relief, the Yautja remains merciless.

In the USA, “Predator: Badlands” now officially has an age rating of PG-13 – a real premiere for the film series, whose individual spin-offs have all received an R rating so far. Producer Ben Rosenblatt justified this low age rating with the fact that this time no people would be harmed.

Only extraterrestrial creatures, synthetic people on behalf of Weyland-Yutani and probably one or two Yautja will have to lose their lives in the new “Predator” hit. White, green and other types of blood en masse; just not red.

The fear among fans in this country that “Predator: Badlands” could possibly be released for ages 12 and up was not entirely unfounded. That would have been an unmistakable sign that the action this time could be extremely harmless, and not just because of the lack of red blood.

“A ‘Predator’ film with a rating of 12? Not with me,” was the general sentiment among the regular fans. I can reassure you, no one has to stay away from the cinema in protest, because the German age rating promises the same merciless consistency that director Dan Trachtenberg already demonstrated with “Prey”: According to the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry (FSK), the upcoming film is released for ages 16 and up.

Great news for “Predator” fans. To celebrate, watch the final trailer again and look forward to the cinema release soon:

“Predator: Badlands” is not the first US film with PG-13 that is released in this country for ages 16 and up

The reasons given for the high age rating are “violence” and “threat”, i.e. a threatening atmosphere or the threat of violence against certain characters.

I had already expected that “Predator: Badlands” would receive an FSK:16 seal, because even though no human characters die in it, the artificial characters such as Thia and Tessa (both played by Elle Fanning) still look very similar to humans. The trailers already indicated that the fights would not only be fought quickly, but would also be fought using all the resources of a Yautja.

This is by no means the only case in which German youth protection is more stringent than its US counterpart, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The sci-fi horror “M3GAN” was only released in this country for ages 16 and up, while in the USA it received a PG-13 rating. The same applies to the video game adaptation “Assassin’s Creed”.

The much-maligned “The Expendables 3” also had a PG-13 rating in the USA, while here it was rated for ages 16 and up. The attempt to reach a wider and younger audience backfired. But in contrast, there will be no harder version of “Predator: Badlands” for home theater. So mark the release of the sci-fi spectacle in cinemas 6. November 2025 before.