Marley & Me gets a rare PG, and other MPAA ratings notes.

Box Office Mojo posted their weekly MPAA rating updates yesterday. Not much to report. Two noteworthy items do pop out, though.

The big news involves Marley & Me. The Jennifer Aniston/Owen Wilson romantic dramedy, that revolves around a troubled marriage and a dog, has acquired a PG (thematic material, some suggestive content and language). The only thing more rare than a live-action non-kid's flick getting a G is a live-action non-kid's flick getting a PG. Really, I can't even remember the last adult drama/comedy that received a PG rating. Was the last one Contact, back in July 1997 (that shocked me too)? The PG is still used for family adventure films (Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Bedtime Stories), kid-centered dramas or musicals (Akeelah And The Bee, Hairspray) and cartoons (Bolt), but it's use for live-action films aimed at adults is more or less nonexistent at this point. Heck, even Mamma Mia! somehow pulled off a PG-13, although content-wise it probably deserved a G (was the harsh rating just because of the insinuation that Streep slept around in her youth?). Come what may, good for Fox for not tossing in a gratuitous 'F-word' just to get the 'harder' PG-13.

The other newsworthy snippet? Australia opens in less than a week, and it only now acquired that PG-13 from the MPAA? I know the 165 minute film was rushing to finish, but this may be a record, at least for a film that wasn't appealing a prior rating.

Other minor bits include the R-rating for Underworld 3 (a prequel where Rhona Mitra fills in for Kate Beckinsale), a PG-13 for The Soloist (which has moved again, now slated for April 24th, right before the summer season starts), and a PG for Old Dogs (a family comedy with John Travolta and Robin Williams that was moved almost a full year - from March 2009 to Thanksgiving 2009). And that's all that's fit to print. Sorry for the rhyming in the post title, it couldn't be helped.

Scott Mendelson

Comments

[Miravanguild]

I live that story every day, except I have two Labs..