Yesterday we shared interesting quotes from Fifty Shades of Grey movie screenwriter Kelly Marcel. She had said, according to quotes published by The Telegraph, that the film “will be NC-17.”
Following these reports, Marcel took to her Twitter to deny that she made those comments. The tweet was re-tweeted by Fifty Shades author E.L. James:
To be absolutely clear I NEVER said what the film would be rated. Only the ratings board can decide what the rating will be.
— Kelly Marcel (@MissMarcel) January 9, 2013
She’s right that the ratings board decides what the film will receive, but filmmakers always attempt to write and shoot their movie a certain way to obtain a particular rating. They know general boundaries and Marcel and James likely have an idea of how much sex will be in the film and what exactly we’re going to see on screen. Thus, they know what rating they’re aiming for.
News of an attempt to write the film for a NC-17 rating shocked many yesterday. If Fifty Shades received this rating, which does not permit anyone under 17 to enter the theater, it would have a harder time making a big splash at the box office. Then again, we speculated, the sheer popularity of the book may unseat all expectations of a regular NC-17 film. The book is, plain and simple, nothing but sex. To cut the material out and make it appropriate for an R-rating would mean making a big departure from the book.
We’re unsure at this point if Marcel truly said the comments she did in our report yesterday, but now that the idea is in our head we do hope they’re aiming for NC-17.