Baron Cohen's 'Bruno' Slapped with NC-17 Rating
Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy, Exhibition, Newsstand
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We've heard a lot about the unbelievably ridiculousness of Sacha Baron Cohen's new mock-gotcha flick Brüno (which is sorta like a sequel to Borat, but with another one of Baron Cohen's over-the-top characters), and so the news that it's received an NC-17 rating upon its first run through the MPAA shouldn't be all that shocking. According to The Wrap, that's exactly what happened -- and it was due to scenes where Baron Cohen (as Brüno ,the gay Austrian fashion reporter) "appears to have anal sex with a man on camera." Another "problem scene", according to The Wrap, comes when Cohen "goes on a hunting trip and sneaks naked into the tent of one of the fellow hunters, an unsuspecting non-actor."
Universal confirmed the NC-17 rating by noting: "On its first submission the film did not receive an R but it is far too early to say that there is any struggle to get there as the process is only at its inception." Since Universal won't release a film that's rated NC-17 -- especially because they know this sucker will make a ton of money for them assuming it gets its R rating -- you can bet Baron Cohen will be forced to cut or trim the scenes the MPAA deems not appropriate and leave them for an unrated DVD. So fear not, friends, this will find its way to theaters -- it'll just take a little more time to hash out the ratings snafu. That said, Brüno should still make its July 10 release date.
For more on Brüno, check out our report on the footage screened at SXSW.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-30-2009 @ 12:37PM
craig said...
Too bad they will edit the movie to dial it down to R, would be funnier as NC-17.
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3-30-2009 @ 2:08PM
Isaiah said...
wow... MPAA is filled with conservative idiots who prefer to have violence on screen rather than something beautiful like sex i don't care what kind gay or straight sex it's just sex it's like the most natural thing ever. Fuck the MPAA once again
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3-30-2009 @ 4:53PM
Fargus said...
dvd will have the nc-17 version. Obviously they aren't going to release a nc17 movie in the theatres, they are in the business to make money.....
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3-30-2009 @ 5:44PM
LiqwidZero said...
"Lust, Caution" was released with an R rating. So,I believe we'll see the same thing with "Bruno". R rated theatrical, NC-17 (directors/unrated) on DVD/BD.
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3-30-2009 @ 7:31PM
Nick said...
Lust, Caution was actually released as NC-17, but an R cut was made for DVD because Blockbuster, and Walmart won't carry NC-17 movies.
The NC-17 was implemented to get rid of the negative connotations the X rating had, but it's turned into the no-man's land of studio movies. It's a real shame that in America, films for adults that aren't pornography are stigmatized the same as if they were. Not even mentioning the MPAA's extreme lenience on violence and hardness on sex and nudity, particularly when gay characters are involved, the ratings system is supposed to be a guide for PARENTS, but what it ends up doing is ruining movies for the rest of us. They present the system as an alternative to censorship, but it's the same thing because most theaters won't play movies with an NC-17, you can't run an ad in a paper or on TV, so it's financial death. As far as a guide for parents, the MPAA ratings are vague or confusing ("A bizzare/fantasy/comic violent image, Smoking, Breif Drug Use - All Involving Teens") that they're not nearly as good a guide for parents as so mant other websites are, where parents can go, see that maybe The Dark Knight isn't a good choice for their 12 year old because of such and such scenes. Also Borat was hetereosexual, so I guess an R rating was fine when he had balls on his chin in close up, and I can only assume the sex in Bruno is simulated, and how many times have we seen simulated sex between a man and a woman in an R movie? Countless times, but when it's two men, suddenly it should be relegated to the indepdent theaters and video stores.
I say the only solution to bullshit like this is to have filmmakers, big filmmakers, boycott the MPAA. Just don't submit your films for ratings. I'd be fine with self-ratings like they have in the Television industry. It's the only way to fix these problems. Imagine if Speilberg decided not submit Indiana Jones for a rating. You think mainstreem theatres wouldn't show it? Of course they would, and it'd show the unneccesary-ness of the ratings board.
3-31-2009 @ 10:37AM
LiqwidZero said...
I agree.
I haven't seen "Lust, Caution" yet. You would think that, there being a rating system and all, the movies would be released in their intended direction.
If a movie is made for audiences over 17, then let it come out! If you watched "The Watchmen" and laughed about Dr. Manhattan's penis flailing around, then you shouldn't be watching the movie in the first place.
The MPAA and other rating boards are our modern day Nazis.
3-30-2009 @ 11:51PM
scotteweinberg said...
See, here's my take: If you have ten jokes, and four of 'em are EXTRA raunchy, that doesn't necessarily mean they're the four funniest jokes. Just about all of what we saw in Austin would qualify for an R, and that stuff had us rolling like nitrous junkies.
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