The Reel Blog

The L.A Times takes a front-page look into Lust, Caution's attempt to remove the perceived stigma and misconceptions of the NC-17 rating. Reporter Lorenza Muñoz goes deep into the weeds with studio executives and uncovers some new misconceptions perpetuated by the executives themselves.

In addition, the lingering association between NC-17 and X-rated fare can take a toll at the box office. Films labeled as NC-17 sell as many as 25% fewer tickets, studio executives said. The highest-grossing NC-17 film was "Showgirls," a 1995 film that brought in $20.4 million.

It is difficult to conceive on what basis anyone can make such a comparison. There will need to be more than a dozen or so NC-17 rated films before there is enough data to make a such an assertion. If one can make an assertion, the available evidence points in the opposite direction:

NC-17 rated films take in, on average, $2.1 million more than unrated films - the preferred form for releasing films that might otherwise be rated NC-17. In other words, one might make the reckless assertion that the stigmatic NC-17 increases box office take by more than 100 percent.

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Skinwalkers is coming to DVD Nov. 27.

Lionsgate made the announcement just 42 days after the film's theatrical release. It's final gross was $1,018,965. Do you think the fact the film failed miserably in the theatrical market has anything to do with the hair-trigger announcemnet?

Let's look back a bit shall we?

The DVD release date for Captivity, another Lionsgate release, was announced after just 32 days. Its gross? $2,626,800.

The DVD release window for both films? 109 days (3 months 19 days).

Nope, not sensing a trend here at all.

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Muvico' s Rosemont 18 outside of Chicago, is causing a bit of a buzz.

The L.A. Times features it in an article about movie theaters luring back patrons with luxury, alcohol and adults-only seating. This isn't an entirely new trend, NATO's former magazine covered the trend of alcohol service and cinema eateries (also here) in 2005 and 2006.

What seems to be catching on is the added intangible of an adults-only policy required by alcohol service.

From the Times article:

"This is a little bit of heaven," said Tricia Holman, who works for a technology firm and lives in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill. For a $15 ticket on a weekend evening, she said, it's "just me, my husband and the big screen. And no teenagers."

In an attempt to entice grown-ups back to the nation's movie theaters, Florida-based Muvico opened the luxury Rosemont 18 in this Chicago suburb just east of O'Hare International Airport. The theater has a clear goal: to cater to those weary of watching films accompanied by a soundtrack of fussy babies and gossiping teens.

One screen is entirely dedicated to customers old enough to buy a cocktail. Five other screens have all-ages seats on the ground level -- and separate, adults-only balconies reached through the bar inside the theater. Customers can lounge on love seats, eat gourmet concessions such as filet-mignon mini-burgers and sip alcoholic drinks during the movie.

Not all movie-goers are thrilled with the idea:

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Ang Lee has cut approximately 30 minutes from his Venice Film Festival winner Lust, Caution in order for it to play on Chinese screens.

China, which has no rating system requires all films to be suitable for all audiences or it will not be screened. According to Variety, the film may also be trimmed for Hong Kong audiences, which has a rating system, and a rough equivalent to the R rating:

(T)he III classification is the territory's only one with mandatory effect. It gives theater box offices the power to check IDs, requires that promotional materials are screened by the censors and that videos are sold in sealed plastic wrapping.

However, government censors may still insist upon cuts in order for a film to qualify for that rating.

No such rating option exists in the Chinese mainland, where either everyone gets to see a movie, from toddler to teen to pensioner, or no one does. Ang Lee's last pic "Brokeback Mountain" was banned in mainland China for its homosexual content.

The lack of a film classification system means the only tools at the censor's disposal are cutting entire scenes or simply banning a movie, both drastic steps when one considers that script approval was granted before a movie goes into production.

China's main movie watchdog, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television refuses to introduce the rating system as it believes that if a movie is unsuitable for children, then it's unsuitable for adults too.

"Authorities told me that there was no film rating system on the mainland so they let me cut it. Children are able to watch it on the mainland," Lee said.

So what's the problem with an NC-17 rating? The film maker need not cut a frame from his or her film, it may be shown in any theater without legal restriction, media will advertise it. The only restriction is that children under s 17 may not attend.

Critics say that the NC-17 inhibits the commercial prospects of a film and that many theaters will not play a film so rated. But the NC-17 merely reflects the nature of the content and theaters and audiences judge their interest in seeing or screening films on that basis every day. Would a movie theater in say, Provo, Utah, book the film with the same content and an R rating? Would a sizable audience go see it?

Thanks to Ang Lee and James Schamus at Focus, we'll get the opportunity to see how a film intended for adults and not children - and honestly labelled as such - performs in the market. Let's hope American audiences, theaters and media respond as forthrightly.

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Halloween took in a record $31 million over the three-day weekend, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The holiday weekend gross for the top-ten films was up 26% over last year's total. The weekend itself set a record for the time period.

To round things off, summer 2007 set a box office record, topping $4 billion for the first time and ending with an estimated $4.3 billion.

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