United States: Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks beware. The young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker is about to turn to the dark side of the Force - and it won't be pretty.
Film-maker George Lucas says his sixth and final instalment in the blockbuster Star Wars film franchise is the darkest and most violent yet, and is likely to be the first in the series to land a more restrictive rating than PG.
"I don't think I would take a 5- or 6-year-old to this," Lucas said in a US television interview set for broadcast on tomorrow. "My feeling is that it will probably be a PG-13, so it will be the first Star Wars that's a PG-13."
The five previous Star Wars films carried a rating of PG, which stands for "parental guidance suggested" and is the second-to-least restrictive classification that can be issued for a film by the Motion Picture Association of America.
A PG-13 rating means parents are strongly cautioned that some material in the film may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13.
The tone of the upcoming final chapter in the Star Wars double trilogy is described by Lucas as a far cry from some of the more light-hearted elements of his earlier films, such as the cuddly Ewok warriors in the 1983 Return of the Jedi or the goofy, easy-going Jar Jar Binks from Phantom Menace in 1999.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith will chronicle the transformation of the heroic Anakin Skywalker into the evil Darth Vader as he ventures to a mythical hell-like planet composed of erupting volcanoes and molten lava.
Revenge of the Sith, the third "prequel" to the original 1977 Star Wars film, is due out in May.
- (Reuters)