Dark Side may land PG-13 for ‘Star Wars’

After plying the heavens in episodes one and two, Anakin Skywalker is heading to hell in “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.”

And Skywalker’s descent into the Dark Side is so deep and disturbing, the final “Star Wars” installment might get a PG-13 rating for the first time since the series blasted off into space nearly 30 years ago, says director George Lucas.

“I don’t think I would take a 5- or 6-year-old to this,” he says in a “60 Minutes” interview to air Sunday night on CBS. “It’s way too strong.”

Skywalker’s transformation from cute good guy into the evil Darth Vader features a scene that could scare little kids, Lucas says.

Landing on a volcano-ridden planet called Mustafar, Skywalker makes “a pact with the devil,” he says. “The lava at the end … it ends in hell.”

The film, which opens in May, “is much more dark … more emotional,” Lucas says. “It’s much more of a tragedy.”

Skywalker’s dance with the devil probably won’t turn off loyal “Star Wars” fans, said Bob Thompson, a Syracuse University professor and pop culture expert.

“The accepted wisdom is that you don’t mess with the franchise,” Thompson said. “But so much of the fan base is people who saw the first episode 30 years ago, and they are old enough and mature enough now for something darker.”

Also, children today are harder to scare, he said.

“There is a trend toward embracing darkness in children’s literature and movies,” Thompson said. “In ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Lemony Snicket,’ people are poisoned by snakes, eaten by leeches and sucked into the vortex of darkness.”