“My producers are finding it fun to remind me that it will be one of the most expensive R-rated independent feature films ever made” Villeneuve disclosed to Screen International
Blade Runner came out in 1982, just before the PG-13 era began. I think if it were to come out now, with some relatively insignificant cuts, it could have been PG-13.
I'm glad this is getting the R but this doesn't feel like the issue it was leading up to Prometheus, when people worried about it being PG-13.
Courtesy of EW
“Blade Runner 2049” opens on October 6, 2017