The MPAA has lost its battle.
Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” has been rated PG-13 for brief graphic nudity, smoking and some suggestive material.
If you remember, the MPAA had originally stamped the film with an R but Focus was going to appeal that decision. What seems to have irked the ratings board was the “graphic nudity.”
Wasn’t Lea Seydoux, briefly, fully naked in “The French Dispatch”? Of course, that film was also stamped with an R rating, but this isn’t porn. Audiences are prudes.
Focus won the appeal. Their aim of PG-13 has been attained, as they want this film seen by as many heads as possible, and rightfully so.
“The French Dispatch” grossed $16.1 million in the United States and Canada and $30.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $46.3 million. It was what you might call an arthouse “success” in the pandemic-era.
“Asteroid City” is released in theaters on June 16th.