Though it's already the second highest grossing specialty release of 2010 in its R-rated version, Harvey Weinstein is considering re-editing and re-releasing The King's Speech to squeeze a little more juice out of the flurry of Oscar nominations received by the picture.
Here's the thinking. The film's R rating is purely a result of the MPAA's restrictions on the number of times you can say 'fuck' in a PG-13 film. That particular word being the focal point of a key scene between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush was enough to push the film up to an R rating, regardless of the fact that it was used purely because it was a trigger for Firth's stutter. Now, while The King's Speech has performed remarkably well in North America it has done even better in the UK, where it has topped the box office for weeks due to it being treated as a family destination film by local audiences. Ol' Harv thinks if he cuts out the f-bombs and gets a lower rating as a result he can repeat that phenomenon here as well.
Beyond showing a basic level of respect for the film that just scored a handful of Oscar noms, Mr Weinstein, here's the flaw in that thinking. American kids don't give a rat's ass about British royalty and if mom and dad want to go see The King's Speech you can bet that Billy and Susy will be heading to another part of the multiplex regardless of what the rating is. A family event requires that the entire family be interested in seeing the film and that's not bloody likely here. The rating of The King's Speech is completely and totally irrelevant because nobody that would be blocked by the R rating gives a damn anyway.
Here's the thinking. The film's R rating is purely a result of the MPAA's restrictions on the number of times you can say 'fuck' in a PG-13 film. That particular word being the focal point of a key scene between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush was enough to push the film up to an R rating, regardless of the fact that it was used purely because it was a trigger for Firth's stutter. Now, while The King's Speech has performed remarkably well in North America it has done even better in the UK, where it has topped the box office for weeks due to it being treated as a family destination film by local audiences. Ol' Harv thinks if he cuts out the f-bombs and gets a lower rating as a result he can repeat that phenomenon here as well.
Beyond showing a basic level of respect for the film that just scored a handful of Oscar noms, Mr Weinstein, here's the flaw in that thinking. American kids don't give a rat's ass about British royalty and if mom and dad want to go see The King's Speech you can bet that Billy and Susy will be heading to another part of the multiplex regardless of what the rating is. A family event requires that the entire family be interested in seeing the film and that's not bloody likely here. The rating of The King's Speech is completely and totally irrelevant because nobody that would be blocked by the R rating gives a damn anyway.