New Barney Meets Five Nights At Freddy’s Is Officially An R-Rated Horror Movie

One of the latest mascot horror movies is now officially going to be R-rated.

Mascot horror has been a growingly popular subgenre over the past few years. Perhaps most notably, this has taken the form of the splatter slasher Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequels. Even before then, one of the popular pioneers of the subgenre was the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game series, which has since been adapted into successful horror films.

Now, the latest installment in the mascot horror genre has gotten its MPA rating. This movie is Buddy, an upcoming horror flick distributed by Roadside Attractions and Saban Films. According to a new release of film ratings, Buddy has been rated R for “bloody violence, some drug content and language – all involving children.“

Buddy cements itself securely in the mascot horror genre by taking on a beloved children’s show: Barney & Friends. In the Casper Kelly-directed film, a girl and her friends must struggle to escape a ’90s children’s show that stars an orange unicorn, Buddy. The movie features a leading live-action cast including Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, and Topher Grace, and the vocal talents of Patton Oswalt and Keegan-Michael Key.

Of course, Buddy does not directly reference Barney & Friends. Rather, it is an extremely close spoof, clearly pulling from the purple dinosaur show when crafting its mascot horror.

The movie’s R rating should be an exciting turn for horror fans. While Five Nights at Freddy’s might be its closest proxy — both using giant animal mascots turned sinister as their major plot device — those movies have already shown how they are clearly distinguished from Buddy: they are PG-13.

As such, the Five Nights at Freddy’s duology, while still in the mascot horror genre, is aimed more towards tweens and teens, who can see the movie unaccompanied by a parent. This limits the amount of blood and gore that can be on-screen, as per MPA guidelines.

This leaves room for Buddy to be a complete splatter fest, and to overall be much more intense than its PG-13 counterpart would be. Within mascot horror, this thus situates Buddy far closer to something like Blood and Honey than the relatively tamer Five Nights at Freddy’s.

With this rating, it will be interesting to see whether Buddy becomes the next breakout horror hit of 2026. R-rated horror has been taking over the box office this year, with both Obsession and Backrooms becoming massive successes. This MPA rating will allow horror fans to take Buddy more seriously, potentially paving its path to success.