The Expendables was rated R. After a brief PG-13 scare, The Expendables 2 hit theaters with an R rating, too. Unless a divine force intervenes again, The Expendables 3 will be PG-13. Sylvester Stallone confirmed the Expendables 3 rating at the Cannes Film Festival press conference and explained:

“We want to reach as many people as possible… I think we owe it to the next generation.”

Stallone also talked about how the third movie will differ from the first two at the press conference. See what he had to say after the jump, along with a picture of Stallone, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, and Dolph Lundgren storming the Croisette in a tank.

Here is Stallone’s full quote on the Expendables 3 rating [via Deadline]:

“We want to reach as many people as possible. It’s very close to an R, believe me, it’s right there. But I think we owe it to the next generation. We thought we’d join that club for a while.”

Many Expendables fans are surely disappointed in this news. There is a Facebook group to join if you want to boycott a PG-13 Expendables 3.

As with The Expendables 2, there is still some chance The Expendables 3 will revert to an R rating by the August 15 release date. Stallone believes, regardless of the rating, the new movie could be the best Expendables yet:

“With the first one, I didn’t know which direction to go. It was experimental, more dramatic and heavier. In the second one, I think we went too far in the comedy and one liners. (For the third film) I realized we should get back to being more dramatic. When men and women know each other, there’s a kind of human comedy, not jokes, but when the action starts I don’t like to do jokes. So, I believe we finally got it right on the third one. It’s kind of like marriage.”

Wesley Snipes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kelsey Grammer, Antonio Banderas, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, and Glen Powell also star in the Expendables that finally gets it right. See the full roll call below.

For more on The Expendables 3, check out our set visit coverage: