'Dark Knight' rated for 'intense violence'

Upcoming Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight has been rated PG-13 in the US.

The Motion Picture Association of America said the film, starring Christian Bale and late actor Heath Ledger, contains "intense sequences of violence and menace".

It said: "There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence."

It was recently reported that Warner Bros considered cutting a scene in which Ledger's character The Joker pretends to be dead.

The Dark Knight is released in the UK on July 25.