Film sex, violence not good business, study says By Erik Nelson, Staff Writer (Daily News) Never mind their quality, an economic study released Tuesday concludes that R-rated movies are just bad business for Hollywood studios. In a study that questions the industry�s basic business model, economics professor Arthur De Vany�s equations and economic modeling show that the combination of a big budget, top stars and a R rating may be the worst investment a Hollywood studio can make. In fact, the study concludes that not only are R-rated films less than half as likely as PG releases to gross $25 million domestically, but that G, PG and PG-13 movies all generate better revenues and profits than R-rated films while keeping costs down. Yet, according to De Vany�s study, more than half of the films released in the last decade were rated R, less than 3 percent were rated G and the remainder were split about evenly between PG and PG-13 movies. �A studio executive seeking to trim the downside risk and increase the upside possibilities could do so by shifting production dollars out of R-rated movies into G, PG, and even PG-13 movies,� wrote De Vany, an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine. Those who know something about film revenues, like box-office tracking guru Paul Dergarabedian, said thestudy has merit because the numbers for R-rated movies don�t add up. �If we do look over the past five years, let�s say, at the top 30 (grossing) films, there�s just a handful of R-rated films,� said Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. �Certainly, there is some validity to that study.� Ironically, the study was released after �Scary Movie,� which is rated R, earned $42.5 million in its opening weekend, the biggest opening ever for a R-rated film. It cost only $19 million to make, ensuring that it will be one of the exceptions that proves De Vany�s rule. In an interview, De Vany cited actor Jim Carrey�s career as proof that R-rated movies have a harder time making a profit. While Carrey has enjoyed considerable box-office success with his PG-13 rated comedies such as �The Truman Show� and �Ace Ventura,� his new R-rated offering, �Me, Myself & Irene,� is having a disappointing summer. A spokeswoman for Fox, which released the film, said the studio �would have no comment� on De Vany�s study. Burbank-_base_d entertainment industry analyst Art Rockwell said that while it�s clear that an R rating reduces a potential audience, �there�s an awful lot of successful R-rated films.� And Dergarabedian noted that some of Hollywood�s classic _title_s � like �The Godfather,� and the �Exorcist� � and recent hits like the Oscar-winning �American Beauty� were all rated R. Outside the AMC Promenade 16 Theaters in Woodland Hills, 15-year old Kevin Sharar of Woodland Hills said teens prefer such movies because they typically push the limits. �R-rated movies are more interesting but sometimes it�s hard for younger kids to get in,� said Sharar, who had just seen �The Perfect Storm,� which earned a PG-13 rating for foul language and scenes of peril. �I wanted to watch �Scary Movie� the second it came out. When I found out it was rated R, I went with my mom.� De Vany undertook the study to test a theory advanced by syndicated film reviewer Michael Medved, who criticizes R-rated films not only because they have foul language, sexual content and graphic violence, but because Hollywood is losing money by making so many of them. Using a complex economic model honed by earlier studies De Vany authored on more traditional industries, he concluded that R-rated movies are just a bad business decision. �I think the studios are running around trying to apply formulas that are _base_don wrong kinds of statistical thinking to a business that�s very different from that,� De Vany said. Mary Gregg couldn�t agree more. The 76-year-old Sherman Oaks grandmother said there are too few G- and PG-rated films that she can enjoy with her grandchildren. �I try to take my grandchildren to see movies but there�s not anything that they can see,� said Gregg who had just seen PG-rated �Disney�s The Kid� starring Bruce Willis. �I don�t really like (most) movies, I�d rather see something without the bad language.� De Vany, who wrote the 47-page study as a research fellow with Texas A&M�s Private Enterprise Research Center, is a member of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences at UC Irvine. He produced the report with his research partner, associate professor W. David Walls of the University of Hong Kong. Hollywood isn�t the only industry that De Vany studies. He�s also written economic studies about the steel, energy and shipping industries.

By and large, that article makes a lot of sense; however, an R rating can designate a wide variety of product. It can mean a graphically violent film like Saving Private Ryan, cartoonish gross-out gags, �a sexy thriller or romantic comedy. You have different customers choosing to see or not see these movies _base_d on a variety of different reasons. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Why not just make R rated movies and call them PG. �Hollywood is corrupt and poweful. �Their lackeys in Washington DC won't _object_ if you buy them off.

Why is it that this R-rating a kiss of death? Films certified 18 in this country (i.e. roughly equal to your NC-17 rating, but with 18, instead of 17) often do extremely well. Why this *HUGE* difference? Alby

Why is it that this R-rating a kiss of death? Films certified 18 in this country (i.e. roughly equal to your NC-17 rating, but with 18, instead of 17) often do extremely well. Why this *HUGE* difference? A lot of it is self-fulfilling prophecy. �When the studios are trying to make a real crowd-pleaser, that will appeal as a date movie and a guy movie and will have something for families and all the rest of it, they shoot it to fit the PG or PG-13 mold. �They'll avoid making anything more graphic (especially in terms of sex and nudity) than necessary, will keep the language tame, and generally hang a sign on the thing for Jack Vilente and his Band of Merry Pranksters that reads, 'we expect to get a (fill-in-the-blank) rating, so you know what to do here.' �Independence Day (ID4) was the story of a guy and his stripper girlfriend, and featured the violent deaths of millions. �It could EASILY have been shot as an R without changing a single line of dialogue (beyond maybe sprinkling in the odd 'fuck'). �There's even a scene that takes place INSIDE THE STRIP CLUB, with DANCERS ON STAGE. �A couple of nipples or maybe (Shock! �Horror!) a whisp of pubic hair and they've got an R. �Will Smith uses the M-word a couple of times (for the, ahem, 'urban' audience), and you've got an R. �We spend a little more time lingering on the charred remains, and you've got an R. �But no one wanted this to be an R-rated movie; it was designed to make scads and scads of money, so it was shot and edited to be a PG-13. Films that go for the R rating tend to be aimed at slightly smaller markets in the first place, though not all at the same smaller market (of course). �They're teen comedies that no one expects grown-ups to go to, or to take their kids to. �They're more 'artistic' films that aren't really designed to appeal to kids. �They're down-to-the-bone 'guy films' that no one's really expecting to cross over as date films. �The people making them are well aware that that a watered down PG or PG-13 version will have less appeal for their target audience, and won't attract a significant cross-over audience just because they cleaned up the language and trimmed out the nudity. One of the odd side effects of our huge film industry in America, is that films can be made for fairly specific demographics and still draw a large enough audience to make a profit. �A British film is going to have to have a broader appeal (in Great Britain), so British audiences in turn are more likley to go and see a film that's aimed at a somewhat different demographic - they've been trained to do so, just like American audiences have been trained to only go to those films that are advertised as having been made specifically for their particular demo.

Here in Quebec (cause it has a different rating system than the rest of Canada), the ratings seem to be given at random. �Boogie Night: 16+ �Fight Club: 18+ �Scary Movie: 13+ (I saw a woman drag her son out of the theater) and I believe the latest James Bond was rated G. Go figure