Upcoming Weinstein Company indie drama Blue Valentine just had its NC-17 rating overturned to an R. The MPAA officially confirmed the rating-change yesterday afternoon. President of The Weinstein Co., Harvey Weinstein, went in personally to argue with the ratings board. Harvey is notorious around the industry for shouting and bickering until he gets his way.
The controversy is mainly over one graphic sex scene between stars Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. The MPAA wanted them to cut the scene out but director Derek Cianfrance refused to compromise his artistic vision. And with Harvey’s clout and bitter bark backing him up, he knew he stood a fair chance against the censors. When all was said and done, the scene stayed in.
The problem with NC-17 movies is that they can only be exhibited in certain art-house cinemas, usually only in big cities. Also, NC-17 movies cannot have television ads, which significantly affects the films market reach and award campaign.
Blue Valentine is getting superb reviews and The Weinstein Co. will surely make an Oscar push for Gosling and Williams. They’ll definitely make a push for Best Picture because that’s much more valuable to Harvey since his company owns the film. It could even be another dramatic episode like 1998’s Shakespeare in Love Oscar campaign led by Harvey Weinstein when he ran Miramax. The film won Best Picture even though Saving Private Ryan was widely regarded as the best movie that year. They attributed the win to Harvey’s slimy tactic of bullying people into voting for his film. You can question the guy’s method, but in the end, he gets what he wants.
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