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By Steve Mason
September 7, 2006
This Film Is Not Yet Rated is the movie that the studios don't want you to see.
After taking on the Catholic Church with the Academy Award-nominated doc Twist of Faith, director Kirby Dick set his sights on an organization that is almost as fearsome – the Motion Picture Association of America. "I can definitely compare the MPAA to the Catholic Church," Dick says. "They're both good at keeping things secret, and the way they responded to me was very similar."
Dick's new documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated (IFC Films) examines the mysterious film industry rating system, and it made an impressive debut this weekend (9/1-9/4) with $18,893 per screen at two locations. Ironically, the picture performed despite receiving the usually business-killing NC-17 rating from the very body it dismantles.
Since Jack Valenti replaced the Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) in 1968 with the MPAA rating system, the process has been secretive, mysterious and arbitrary. "No filmmaker has ever told me, 'It's a good system," explains Dick. "Many people in independent film and with the studios are very upset with the system, but they're afraid to go on camera."
Kirby Dick is a truly independent filmmaker. In addition to Twist of Faith, which confronts a Catholic priest in Toledo, Ohio about past sexual abuse, his other docs include Derrida, a complex biopic about the world-renown French philosopher, Chain Camera, which documents the lives of urban teens, and Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 1997. For This Film Is Not Yet Rated, he needed a truly independent distributor, "If it weren't for IFC, this film wouldn't have been made."
One of the major themes of Not Yet Rated is that the dramatic consolidation in the film business has made it very tough on indie filmmakers. Six companies now control 95% of the American film business, and the MPAA colludes with "the majors" to make sure that the rating system helps studio releases. After all, those big six film companies fund the activities of the MPAA.
Kirby Dick makes a strong case that the MPAA is biased against independent movies, especially gay-themed and foreign films. Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), John Waters (A Dirty Shame), Kevin Smith (Clerks) and Matt Stone (Team America: World Police) all go on-the-record about their struggles with the film rating procedure. This is an arbitrary process with ill-defined standards, and they are applied with great inconsistency.
In 1982, for example, Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist received an R rating, but after an appeal, the rating was changed to PG without altering a single frame of film. Most critics believe that MGM's clout and Steven Spielberg's gravitas were influential in securing the more box office-friendly rating. Films from major distributors are generally given very specific notes for how to improve from NC-17 to R or from R to PG-13.
Indies on the other hand, are often handed a rating, and told that they can re-edit and re-submit – but they aren't given any specific cuts that need to be made. Independent filmmakers and small distributors just don't have the financial resources to re-cut and resubmit, especially when they have no clear idea about what the MPAA is looking for.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been through the MPAA grind a few times, and they've seen it both as indie filmmakers and as part of one of the big six studios. In 1997, their porn spoof Orgazmo received an NC-17. They believe that this fairly tame comedy received the harsh rating because its distributor was October Films. When they brought their Paramount release South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut to the ratings board in 1999, they received an R rating despite 399 profane words, 128 offensive gestures and 221 acts of violence. The bottom line: Paramount has a lot more clout than October Films.
Despite the oppressive and often times malevolent power of the MPAA ratings board, the identities of its members have always been secret - until Kirby Dick's guerilla filmmaking approach. In Not Yet Rated, Dick hires a pair of private detectives who set out to find who actually watches and rates the films. "This process is top secret as a means of control." He adds, "but film ratings aren't a matter of national security." The documentarian and his investigators successfully identify each of the MPAA raters.
In order to understand the ratings process, he had no choice but to go into the "belly of the beast," so he delivered an early cut of his film to the MPAA. "They didn't know anything about the movie. So when the raters watched it, they said, 'Oh, this is about us.' Then they said, 'Oh, they found out who we are.'" It would have been entertaining to be a fly on the wall as MPAA raters watched themselves essentially under surveillance.
Dick receives an NC-17 from the ratings board, so he appeals. "The Appeals Board is an 'Alice in Wonderland' experience," says Dick. This board, we learn, is chaired by an MPAA attorney and is populated by studio and exhibition executives (we learn their identities too). "I wasn't allowed to reference any other film. If you site another film as a precedent, the chairman cuts you off."
Needless to say, the NC-17 rating was rubber-stamped by the Appeals Board, and when This Film Is Not Yet Rated comes to your town, it will wear that rating like a badge of honor. Kirby Dick hopes that his movie will be a "touchstone for change." He says that when people come to see the film "they aren't even aware of what the MPAA is, but you've got an audience that comes out angry. This film entertains and outrages." That audience can visit the IFC Films website (http://www3.ifctv.com/thisfilm/about.php) and sign an online petition demanding changes in the system.
As for his future, Dick doesn't know if Not Yet Rated will hurt his future prospects in the business, "You'll never know if there's negative fallout. Calls won't be returned. Studios may claim that they already have a project similar to the one I'm pitching." But he doesn't seem especially concerned. In fact, he has selected his next "target". He won't tell me the subject of his next film, but good luck to whoever he turns his camera on next.Focus tries to snap its embarrassing losing streak with Hollywoodland.2005 was a remarkable year for Focus Features. Ten films debuted in the calendar year including The Constant Gardener, Pride & Prejudice, Broken Flowers and the box office phenomenon Brokeback Mountain. Its 2005 slate grossed a stunning $231 million making it the undisputed king of specialty distributors.
Focus had shown three consecutive years of healthy growth:
2002 – 7 releases - $62 million
(including Far From Heaven, The Pianist and Possession)
2003 – 9 releases– $89 million
(including Swimming Pool, Lost In Translation and 21 Grams)
2004 – 7 releases - $101 million
(including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Motorcycle Diaries)
2005 – 10 releases - $231 million
(including Brokeback Mountain, Constant Gardener and Pride & Prejudice).
2006 has been a huge comedown for Universal's specialty division. To date, only four Focus titles have been introduced to the marketplace, and the results have been underwhelming. They began the year with the urban romance Something New, which captured a respectable $11,468,000. The English Channel-swimming On A Clear Day was a bomb, delivering just under $200,000. Brick starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt was well-regarded, but managed just $2 million domestically. Finally, they handled Woody Allen's Scoop this summer. Coming off DreamWorks' successful distribution of Match Point ($23 million), it appeared that Woody had his groove back, but Scoop failed critically and commercially with just $10 million in ticket sales. The total take for the four titles combined is just 23 million.
It is against that backdrop that Focus Features releases Hollywoodland, starring Adrian Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins, as part of unquestionably the weakest weekend slate of the year. Opening against only Sony's The Covenant and Weinstein Company's The Protector, this seemed like a good spot for a historical film noir murder mystery, but more than a few industry executives tell me that this film has no traction in the marketplace.
In fact, my sources tell me that The Black Dahlia (Universal), another period murder mystery, already has twice the awareness in industry tracking research that Hollywoodland has – and Dahlia doesn't open until next Friday (9/15). That portends a very soft opening for this George Reeves murder yarn, no better than $5-$7 million , and, it will be wiped out by the higher profile DePalma project next weekend.
As for Focus, with only four movies yet to come in 2006, barring a major breakout success for Jet Li's Fearless or Academy Award nominations for Phillip Noyce's Catch a Fire, this will be a disastrous year. It will be tough for the formerly high-flying specialty distributor to top $60 million – that's less than 2002 and $170 million less than last year.
Hollywoodland By The Numbers
Top 5 Adrien Brody Films - Domestic Box Office
1. King Kong - $218,080,000
2. The Village - $114,197,000
3. Angels In the Outfield - $50,236,000
4. The Thin Red Line - $36,400,000
5. The Pianist - $32,572,000
Top 5 Diane Lane Films - Domestic Box Office
1. The Perfect Storm - $182,618,000
2. Jack - $58,620,000
3. Unfaithful - $52,775,000
4. Must Love Dogs - $43,894,000
5. Under the Tuscan Sun - $43,610,000
Top 5 Ben Affleck Films - Domestic Box Office
1. Armageddon - $201,578,000
2. Pearl Harbor - $198,542,000
3. Good Will Hunting - $138,433,000
4. The Sum of All Fears - $118,907,000
5. Daredevil - $102,543,000
Top 5 Bob Hoskins Films - Domestic Box Office
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - $156,452,000
2. Hook - $119,654,000
3. Michael - $95,318,000
4. Maid in Manhattan - $94,011,000
5. Mermaids - $35,419,000
Things aren't much better for this weekend's other two new offerings. Sony will likely win the week with The Covenant, but there's no big payday here for the year's hottest studio. A nondescript cast and a convoluted premise - something about four kids who are part of some supernatural group battling some kind of evil force. If I can't describe the movie in an article the day before it opens, how the hell did it manage to get a greenlight – especially with hack Renny Harlin attached to direct?
I'm told that less than 50% of the Under 25s who need to drive the box office for The Covenant have heard anything about it. I can honestly say that I haven't seen a single television commercial promoting the movie. I say $8-$10 million is in the cards here, which, sadly, will be enough to win the weekend.
The Covenant By The Numbers
Top 5 Renny Harlin Films - Domestic Box Office
1. Diehard 2 - $117,540,000
2. Cliffhanger - $84,049,000
3. Deep Blue Sea - $73,648,000
4. Nightmare On Elm Street 4 - $49,369,000
5. Excorcist: The Beginning - $41,821,000
Finally, International Martial Arts Superstar Tony Jaa is back on the big screen in The Protector (Weinstein Company). His biggest hit was Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior (Magnolia), which delivered an impressive $4.5 million back in 2003. Jaa has modeled his career after guys like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and, like his idols, he does his own action scenes without wires or stunt doubles.
If one of the weekend's new offerings were to break out, it would be The Protector. My sources tell me that that the tracking shows low Total Awareness, but solid Definite Interest numbers, especially among Males Under 25 and Males over 25. I'll project $5-$7 million and a shot at #3 for the weekend.
The Protector By The Numbers
All-Time Top 5 Weinstein Company Releases – Domestic Box Office
1. Scary Movie 4 - $90,710,000
2. Hoodwinked - $51,386,000
3. Derailed - $36,024,000
4. Pulse - $18,482,000
5. Wolf Creek - $16,188,000
All-Time Top 5 Foreign Language Films from Asia – Domestic Box Office
1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - $128,078,000
2. Hero - $53,710,000
3. Kung Fu Hustle - $17,108,000
4. Iron Monkey - $14,694,000
5. House of Flying Daggers - $11,050,000
Here are the weekend projections from your humble columnist and theatre-owner:
September 8-10
1. The Covenant - $9 million
2. Invincible - $7 million
3. Hollywoodland - $6 million
4. The Protector - $5 million
5. Little Miss Sunshine - $5 million
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