Docu's 'R' stands for resist

'Fahrenheit' camp to appeal MPAA grade

By GABRIEL SNYDER

This article was updated at 9:58 p.m.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" finally opens Wednesday in New York -- and then on Friday in more than 800 North American theaters -- but the battle over the rating on Michael Moore's doc still rages on.

Today the "Fahrenheit" camp will appeal the R rating the docu received from the Motion Picture Assn. of America earlier this month "for violence, disturbing images and language."

Moore did not make any changes to the pic for today's appeals screening. Instead, Lions Gate prexy Tom Ortenberg, who will rep the pic at the appeal, will make the case that the doc will contribute to the national political debate and therefore should be available to the widest audience possible.

Liberal activists are hoping for just such an effect. After appealing for its members to support the doc, MoveOn PAC said on Monday that nearly 109,000 people had pledged to attend the film on opening weekend.

Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Fellowship Adventure Group, formed to distribute "Fahrenheit" in the U.S., had retained former New York governor Mario Cuomo, now a lawyer at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, to rep the pic in its MPAA appeal.

But the MPAA, citing its policy of allowing only people associated with the creation of a film to argue at its appeals, will not allow Cuomo to make the oral presentation.

The Weinsteins pacted with Lions Gate and IFC Films to handle distribution.

The biggest sticking point in the ratings flap appears to be the use of the word "motherfucker" several times by an American soldier in Iraq. In the single scene, young tank crew members explain how they play a heavy-metal version of "The Roof Is on Fire" when they go into combat. Repeating the lyrics of the song, one soldier uses the expletive several times.

MPAA ratings guidelines on profanity state, "A film's single use of one of the harsher sexually derived words, though only as an expletive, shall initially require the Rating Board to issue that film at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive must lead the Rating Board to issue a film an R rating ... These films can be rated less severely, however, if by a special vote the Rating Board feels that a lesser rating would more responsibly reflect the opinion of American parents."

The doc also includes some graphic footage of Iraqi civilian casualties, including bodies piled in the back of a pickup truck and children with severe wounds. Though disturbing, similar footage has appeared in news coverage of the war.

MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor said the guidelines are not written in stone. "There's some guidelines, but it comes down to the parental prism that the Rating Board looks at films through."

Cuomo's comments

In a letter released Monday outlining the "Fahrenheit" camp's case for a PG-13 rating, Cuomo wrote that his conversations with Rating Board chair Joan Graves revealed "the raters agree that there was nothing else in the film that required any cautionary notice to parents."

He argued, "Why then should the film not be rated a PG-13 as was 'The Lord of the Rings,' a film that is saturated with slaughter, butchery and corpses -- human and extraterrestrial?"

On the profanity issue, Cuomo wrote, "Does the brief reiteration of the common but still crude 'mother' expletive make the crucial difference? Would the R be dropped if there was just one utterance instead of four? Or just two?"

The R rating was issued by the MPAA's Rating Board, which is made up of parents. Today's hearing is before the Rating Appeals Board, consisting of members of the entertainment industry, who must have a two-thirds majority in order to overturn the original decision.

A final verdict on the appeal is expected today after the hearing.

Lions Gate has said the R would cost the pic as much as 20% of its audience. However, in the latest tracking research by Nielsen NRG, people over age 25, especially men, are the most interested in seeing the doc.

"Fahrenheit" is the first-choice pick for 15% of men over 25 and 9% for women over 25. By comparison, 7% of males under 25 and 4% of females under 25 pick the doc.

67% awareness

Overall, "Fahrenheit" has a 9% first-choice rating and 67% say they are aware of the pic. Both figures are up significantly from last week, when first-choice was 4% and awareness was 47%, but definite interest has stayed pretty much the same, at 35% this week compared with 34% last week.

In addition to the reams of free media attention generated for "Fahrenheit," Lions Gate and IFC are spending nearly $10 million on TV and print ads ahead of release.

On Monday afternoon, Lions Gate said 759 U.S. theaters, at least one in every state, would play the doc. Additional bookings in Canada, which is being handled separately by Alliance Atlantis, brings the total North American figure to just slightly over 800 as of Monday. A final theater count will be released today.

Organizing tool

MoveOn is hoping to use "Fahrenheit" as an organizing tool. Org is planning to hand out leaflets afterward, inviting moviegoers to more than 1,000 house parties where Moore will participate in a conference call to answer questions about the pic.

"We'll talk about how we can direct the energy coming out of this movie into educating voters and influencing the election," org exec director Eli Pariser said.

Move America Forward, a group that urged conservatives to contact theaters to prevent them from showing "Fahrenheit," has proven an effective counter for both Moore and MoveOn to promote the pic. Moore has referred frequently to "right-wing" attempts to censor his pic.

MAF chief strategist Sal Russo said of his campaign, "Obviously, it's getting a lot of attention." But asked if he knew of any exhibs that had decided not to play the pic, he said, "We haven't heard back from any theaters directly."