Is an R rating next for Harry Potter

Kids. One moment they’re frolicking under the Whomping Willow, and next thing you know they’re, like, thinking about making out ‘n’ stuff. Yes, the Harry Potter franchise became a man recently when the MPAA smacked the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (due Nov. 18), with a very grown-up PG-13 rating. ”We anticipated at some point this was going to happen,” says Dawn Taubin, president of marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures. ”It was just a question of when.” Although the rating — the MPAA is concerned about ”sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images” — may lop a serious portion of the audience off at their 6-year-old knees, producer David Heyman is unfazed. ”Kids loathe to be patronized,” he says. ”The most important thing for us is to maintain the fidelity to the material. [It’s] a little frightening at times, but that’s the book.” (What’s so scary, exactly? Try the murder of a Hogwarts schoolmate and the rebirth of You-Know-Who.) Parents might flinch a bit, but a PG-13 certainly didn’t hurt the latest Star Wars outing, another all-ages title, or either Spider-Man film. Only, hold up: In the wake of the painfully tragic sixth book, Half-Blood Prince. . .goodness, does R-rated territory lie ahead? ”I don’t think we’ll ever get there,” Taubin says with a laugh. ”One movie at a time.”