It was recently reported that Harold Ramis’ “Year One” was unsuccessful in its appeal to the MPAA regarding it’s R rating. We felt the decision to uphold the rating wouldn’t harm the film’s performance so much as producer Judd Apatow has had much success with R rated comedies in the past.
THR reports today though reveal that Ramis and Apatow have bit the bullet, now edited the film and achieved the PG-13 rating that was initially desired. We’ve read the script and this makes sense frankly. There’s nothing really in the screenplay by “The Office” scribes Lee Eisenberg, and Gene Stupnitsky that suggests the film should be R-Rated in the least. Maybe the off-the-page improvising took it to a more vulgar nether region.
The film was originally rated R for ‘some sexual content and language’ but has now been downgraded for ‘crude and sexual content throughout, brief strong language and comic violence.’ It’s anyone’s guess what that actually means but we assume, as the description went from ‘some language’ in the R category to ‘brief strong language’ in the PG category, the new edit will probably be less profanity-ridden.
The plot for ‘Year One’ doesn’t exactly set the world on fire and much of the film’s appeal will probably come from select moments and gags, but the script is mostly a fun read. The trailer however, was already underwhelming and we hope the editing job will not detriment the film in any way.
‘Year One’ is out in theatres June 19th.
