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The Year One gets its PG-13 Rating
I quite anticipated that after The Year One was slapped with the market limiting R rating (AA here in Canada) that they would suck it up and just move on with it. But Sony has gone back to the editing room and tweaked the film so that the MPAA would grant them their cherished PG-13 stamp!
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Sony appealed, hoping to get a PG-13 without making any cuts to the film, but the MPAA stuck to the R, prompting many of the internet usual suspects to speculate that Sony would give in and release the film with the tougher rating. It wouldn’t have surprised me — Apatow has plenty of clout, and a great track record with R-rated comedies; the same, to a lesser extent, goes for Ramis. But no: Sony made cuts to the film, and merely two days after the appeal ruling, Year One is rated PG-13 “for crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.”
I know there are conspiracy theorists out there who hate the MPAA for stuff like this, but let’s keep in mind that the MPAA is just giving a category. Different people in different chairs might categorize things differently and that leaves a foothold for people to point the 17th finger at “the man” to try and rise against the organization.
But Sony had their day to argue their points, the powers that be said they could not give the rating they were after considering the content in the film (and is anyone surprised by an R Rated Apatow comedy??) so Sony CHOSE to edit the film to gain it the broader demographic that a PG-13 would give it.
And honestly, it is a win win for the studios. They get all this press telling you how raunchy this movie is (which is the angle they cater to with this brand of comedy anyways) and lots of free press warning you all about the naughty bits in this movie.
Then they release a PG-13 version, sell MORE tickets and then get a double dip when the UnRated DVD hits shelves.
Do you honestly think this dance is something Sony is upset about?
Why don’t they just make every potential R rated film that comes out PG-13? Then release the Unrated version on DVD and Blu-Ray? Save themselves the trouble.
Don’t suggest such a thing, rated R comedies are usually WAY more funny than PG-13. I want to see the movie the director intended on the bigscreen not on dvd months later.
I read some of the script, no way it’s going to get PG-13 in the final release, unless of course they cut stuff out
Read the post Aaron “Sony made cuts to the film”
They couldnt get the PG-13 without editing the movie to remove the offending material, so they did an edit and now it is.
i guess i’ll wait for the unrated dvd. it would have been funnier if it had the r rating. im not dure why they felt the need to CUT material from the movie to reach a certain level of “crudeness” I thing they should just stick with what theyve got.
How do you know it would be funnier? That makes no sense at all.
Perhaps the jokes didn’t NEED to show a naked ass or titshot just to get the same gag out.
Actually it does make sense Rodney. They made cuts and highly logical to believe that the cuts made reducing the rating from R to pg13 will not be for the positive. You wouldn’t be saying this if the same thing was mentioned about Bruno.
Explain to me how this won’t be positive.
I want to know how you figure that you KNOW that them making this less risque instantly means less funny.
I’m basing this off of my belief that R rated comedies are usually better than pg13 comedies. I don’t see how you can’t make the connection. Role Models, Sex Drive, and Zack and Miri make a Porno would not have been as funny if they were cut to fit into the pg13 category.
Role Models would have been NO different if it didn’t drop the f-bomb and show some tits.
Zach and Miri WOULD have been PG-13 if they didnt show the nudity and say fuck.
PG-13 can have strong sexual references, but show nudity or say fuck too many times and it gets an R.
You assume that R makes it more funny. That is your own preference. I could care less either way. If they didnt show nudity in Zach and Miri I could care less.
It is your PREFERENCE that is leading you to your assumption.
whilst i do agree with you that R rating doesnt mean it will definitely be better I do believe Role Models would have lost a lot of its good jokes cutting it to a pg13 but this whole idea that if something is rated R it is better is so fucking childish.
I rememeber feeling that way when I was twelve years old and all i wanted was tits and ass and violence and swearing but there are a ton of bad R films. there are a ton of bad pg13 films.there are tons of great r films and tons of great pg13
let the MPAA worry about ratings.. I don’t want film makers worrying about ratings….all i want is for them to make the best film they can.
as I have always said fuck what you make the rating just make it GOOD.
I made a comment about this somewhere else, I basically said that I had only marginal interest in seeing this at theater when it was Rated-R and now that Sony has butchered it, I have zero interest in spending eight dollars to see it now. I Will wait for an Unrated DVD!
The big problem with something like this is now more than ever “Movie Fans” are more educated about the process and what we want to see! We read reviews online, blogs, get inside information about editing. When a studio makes a move like this we know, and that is a bad thing.
So pay attention Hollywood, quit editing the crap out of movies. I will not pay for a watered down product.
I hate that they have to cut the movie, but business is business. Oh well, there’s always the unrated dvd. On the other hand, pg-13 movies can really funny if done right. I thought Anchorman was funny and that was pg-13. In addition, how do you get a job at the mpaa?
Exactly. There is no reason it HAS to be R, but if they want to show nipples and say fuck then its going to get the R.
Lots of movies are sexually crude and socially awkward without having to be an R.
on the other hand the MPAA are very unfair in their judgements. indies get a much harder time than studios.
TBH, now that the movie has a PG-13 rating, I probably won’t end up seeing it in theaters and will just catch it on DVD. I live in Canada too so either way it will probably be rated 14A, but I haven’t seen a genuinely funny PG13 comedy in ages!
If this was happening to Borat/Bruno I highly doubt Rodney would hold the same opinion.
I would have the same opinion. Still making blind assumptions huh?
Borat would have been the same movie without the nudity. It didn’t need to be an R, but they chose to go with it as is. Which is their choice, as it also is Sony’s choice to let the movie stand as R or edit for PG-13.
You do realize it was rated R for far more than simply nudity. Just like the rest of the movies I’ve mentioned that are rated R. It has far more to do with adult themes and suggestion than nudity. A comedy being rated pg13 restricts the writers. Yes, I’m still doing my assuming since I’m usually right…
DBE?
And ironically you assume you are also right in your assumptions.
You ANTICIPATED Dragonball was going to be bad. Way to go Nostradamus. YOU GUESSED, you didn’t know.
Just like you GUESSED that Role Models was an R just for the nudity. You are wrong. Amazing that the Year One is getting a PG-13 and still has adult themes and suggestion, but they edited out some nudity.
I just don’t get why make a movie with offensive material and strong lanquage in the first place if you want the broader audience. The filmmakers really need to ask themselves here: who am i making this movie for? Is it an adult comedy or a family film? Alot of these R-Rated comedies didnt need to have the things in them that make them an R. The would have been the same and just as funny either way. However, if your target audience are adults, then it makes sense to throw in things to make sure it gets it’s R rating so kids don’t get in. If you want a broader audience, don’t have nipples, penises (seems to be the new thing now), and f-bombs. There are many times I watch a movie, and I notice the superficial things that give it it’s rating. Like in “I love You Man”, the say things like like “I need some fucking friends” or “isn’t that they place where you first fucked?”. Granted, it’s an adult comedy, but you can tell things like that were just put in to be there. It wouldn’t alter the movie if it wasn’t there. Granted, it’s realistic becuase people do talk like that in real life, but you’re always going to get an R-Rating if used excessively. If you don’t want kids at your movie anyway, then it’s all good. But for a summer movie like Year One, with potential for kid appeal (it’s got Jack Black, who’s hosted the Kid’s Choice Awards and kids like him), I’d just play it safe and make a cleaner, but just as funny movie.
This is smart, it doesn’t seem like the R rated comedy of other’s recently and it may make more money because of it.