News > "Grindhouse" having Trouble with MPAA, No One Even Remotely Surprised

The New York Post, which evidently doesn't care about divulging spoilers (no need to worry about that at good ol' Filmwad, though), reported that Tarantino and Rodriguez are having a speck of trouble with the MPAA.

The Motion Picture Association of America has not technically seen the film yet, but pretty much everyone at the Weinstein Company is nervous that Grindhouse, in its current state, is headed for an NC-17 rating.

In a way, this is a good thing: it means the directors weren't shitting us when they said that this was going to be a hardcore exploitation flick, full of over-the-top sex and violence you can't get in a regular, mainstream theater.

However, there's no way in hell The Weinstein Company is going to allow Grindhouse to be released with an NC-17. Mainstream theaters, as a rule, do not show NC-17 films, and newspapers generally refuse to advertise for them. Releasing a film with an NC-17 rating, though it'd be very true to the grindhouse vibe that Tarantino and Rodriguez worked so hard to encapsulate, would essentially be a financial kiss of death.

So, what does that mean? Most likely, it means severe cuts will be made. Much of the sex and nudity will likely be removed (the MPAA: "Gratuitous, deplorable violence is a-okay, so long as they don't show any boobies") and saved for an extended DVD release. But really, is there any other way to see grindhouse gore and sex and nudity other than on the big screen?

Unless Tarantino and Rodriguez think up an extremely clever marketing ploy (say, releasing an R and an NC-17 version in theaters simulaneously), or unless the MPAA removes the stick up its ass, there's a good chance that we won't be seeing the true version of Grindhouse until it hits home video.