The NC-17 rating of Deep Throat had nothing to do with it's failure at the box office. There was little to no hype or controversy surrounding the release (which is what documentary's thrive on), the subject of the film was unappealing, most of the reviews were of the "luke warm" variety, there was no marketing, and it opened on 12 screens. These are the reasons why IDT didin't fair to well, not the NC-17 rating.

While I'm slightly dissapointed for the re-rating, I think that this will allow the film to have greater success domestically. I will definately see it in theaters now, as it will likely play near me (the NC-17 version would not have). I expect an Unrated DVD eventually though, and might pick that up (much the same as the expected Unrated version of Saw).

Lions Gate prexy Tom Ortenberg says "The Cooler" was cut down to an R because the modifications requested by the MPAA were modest, whereas those for the gory "High Tension" would mean "gutting" the film.

As an independent, Lions Gate has the option of releasing an unrated film -- a choice the MPAA-signatory majors don't have -- and unrated pics like IFC's "Y tu mama tambien," which grossed $14 million in 2001, have made a credible case for that category.

(Since 1990, unrated movies have grossed a total of $260 million; NC-17 films have made $55 million.)

But Ortenberg believes unrated films can have a stigma of their own.

"To go unrated can marginalize a film by making it feel too independent," he says.

Ultimately, Ortenberg is intent on making a case for the viability of NC-17.

"We are looking to do our part in destigmatizing the rating," he says. "Without getting into the argument about which films should fall under it or not, we at Lions Gate would like there to be an adult rating that does not have a stench associated with it."

"High Tension," directed by Alexandre Aja, does not have the prestige factor of Bertolucci or McGregor, and Ortenberg admits the success of NC-17 will be on a "case-by-case basis."

"To a degree, we're going into uncharted waters," he says. "We're feeling our way."

At least they aren't editing it to PG-13 though, right?

So at least it will be gorier then many of the dissapointing films of this year.

I'm sorry but as a horror fan, you just can't replace the "R" rating with the cut "PG-13" version. Other then The Ring, I've not seen a satisfactory PG-13 horror film yet.

Yeah, I guess that's true.

Also, it is getting dubbed? Hopefully they spend some money on it and do a good job (unlike the DVD-dubbed version of Hero).

I'm afraid to say that,cut for an R-rating, the film will be very compromised (in other words, "ruined"). With about a minute cut, and, in the case of this film that is a lot of screen time (trust me), the violence will not have the same effect as it did unedited. Although I say this with all the authority of someone who has only seen the uncut version.

I was lucky enough to see it last year at a film festival in it's complete version and the audience reaction to the violence was great. I can't see the audience having the same reaction to it cut. The dubbing doesn't really bother me as this movie does not rely on dialouge too much.

I knew that Lion's Gate was going to do this the minute that Thai dvd with an english dub appeared on the market, my suspicions were only confirmed when the LG website reffered to the film as "not yet rated". At least there is a region free uncut and undubbed dvd available from Korea right now.

I'm sure there will be an unrated DVD someday.