Despite a personal appeal from director Harold Ramis and producer Judd Apatow, the MPAA refused to lift the R-rating on YEAR ONE. Since Ramis, Apatow and Sony lost their one and only appeal, that meant one of two things could happen: they could release the film with an R-rating or they could cut it down to a PG-13. They chose the latter. The MPAA revisited the film and has now given the film a PG-13 for “crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.”
You might ask why, with the precedent of successful R-rated movies like STEP BROTHERS, TROPIC THUNDER and SUPERBAD, would Sony be so desperate to get a Judd Apatow produced comedy a PG-13? R-rated comedies have been performing better than ever and last year alone saw three earn more than $100 million. But unlike most comedies, YEAR ONE has a big budget (reportedly north of $75 million) and so far hasn’t seen much in the way of positive buzz. A PG-13 rating would help bring in some of Michael Cera’s teen fans and hopefully give the film a better chance to break even.
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