Anne Hathaway Calls for Movies With Dog Deaths to Be Rated R
Anne Hathaway has a message for Hollywood: if you kill the dog, the movie should be rated R. Period.
While promoting her new dinosaur movie, The End of Oak Street, Hathaway was asked about one of the biggest fears moviegoers have when a beloved pet shows up on screen — whether the animal is going to make it to the end of the movie. Her response was pretty definitive.
“I feel like movies that kill dogs should automatically be rated R,” Hathaway said. “It doesn’t matter if anybody curses. It doesn’t matter if there’s violence. If a dog dies, R-rated.”
And honestly, she may have a point. There is literally an entire website, DoesTheDogDie.com, dedicated to helping viewers figure out whether a movie contains the death or serious injury of an animal before they watch it. The topic has become such a common concern among movie fans that “Does the dog die?” has practically become its own movie-review category.
So… Does the Dog Die in The End of Oak Street?
That’s exactly the question Hathaway has been getting while promoting the film.
The End of Oak Street hits theaters August 14 and stars Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as parents whose suburban neighborhood is mysteriously ripped from suburbia and transported somewhere completely unknown. The family then has to figure out how to survive in their new surroundings — which, as it turns out, includes dinosaurs.
Early in the movie, the family’s dog goes missing, which obviously sent dog lovers into full panic mode.
But Hathaway seems to be reassuring everyone that they don’t need to completely emotionally prepare themselves for another “John Wick” situation.
“We break rules in this movie,” she teased. “That might not be one of them. Don’t worry.”
The movie is rated PG-13, rather than R, for strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language and suggestive material.
Hathaway Has a Theory About Why We’re So Traumatized
Hathaway also has a theory about why audiences have become so nervous whenever a dog appears in a movie.
She blames John Wick.
The 2014 action movie famously kicks off its revenge story after Keanu Reeves’ character loses his beloved puppy, Daisy. That storyline helped establish one of the most memorable — and heartbreaking — motivations in modern action movies.
And apparently, Hathaway thinks audiences are still recovering.
So the next time you’re sitting in a theater and a cute dog walks onto the screen, you may want to remember Anne Hathaway’s rule:
If the dog dies, forget PG-13. Give that movie an R.