Bruno Slapped With NC-17 Rating

6 highest-grossing films all have it

(NEWSER) - One key to The Avengers' record success this weekend: its PG-13 rating. The top six highest-grossing movies ever made are all rated PG-13; the rating points to a film that's titillating enough for teens but isn't likely to offend adults, the Los Angeles Times notes. The rating has become a Holy Grail for movie execs, particularly lately. Last year, R-rated movies accounted for 21% of US box office takings—the lowest figure in decades. More»

It's Complicated spotlights MPAA's wacky marijuana rules

(NEWSER) - Insiders say the only reason Meryl Streep’s new romantic comedy It’s Complicated has an R rating is a scene in which she smokes marijuana, and that’s causing a “minor ruckus” in Hollywood. A source close to the hearings tells Robert Ablon of the Los Angeles Times “pot smoking with no bad consequences” was the MPAA’s top official reason for hanging the revenue-reducing rating on the movie. What’s next, Ablon wonders: “This film is rated R for brief alcohol use portrayed in a positive light”? More»

(NEWSER) - Sacha Baron Cohen is box-office gold, but he can’t pull it off again … or can he? Eric Ditzian looks at some possibilities for the Brüno star’s future.

• "A Fourth Wacked-Out Journalist." Some thought Brüno couldn't fly after the exposure Borat brought, but the multiplex says otherwise. "No doubt, Cohen and his mischievous team could make a fourth movie work." (First film Ali G Indahouse didn't make it to US theaters.)

Advocates feel 'deeply mixed' about faux-Austrian reporter

(NEWSER) - Gay groups are torn over the upcoming comedy flick Bruno, worried that it may seem to justify rather than mock homophobia, the New York Times reports. “Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be OK with it,” says the head of an anti-defamation group. “Sacha Baron Cohen's well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others.” More»

Sacha Baron Cohen strikes again

(NEWSER) - Sacha Baron Cohen infiltrated an Alabama military base for a few hours in February as “Bruno”—a gay Austrian fashion journalist—before a savvy cadet spotted the ruse, the AP reports. The footage could appear in Cohen’s upcoming film, Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America For The Purpose Of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable In The Presence Of A Gay Foreigner In A Mesh T-Shirt. More»