After three f-bombs in the upcoming dramedy “How Do You Know” earned the film an R-rating from the MPAA, James L. Brooks was forced to go back into the edit bay and deliver a cleaner cut of the film. Well, the MPAA is now pleased not to have their ears soiled with those egregious words and have blessed Brooks’ film with a PG-13 rating, causing teenage girls wearing competing Team Rudd and Team Wilson t-shirts to line up at their multiplexes to buy advance tickets while Fandango has reported server crashes on an unprecedented scale.
OK, maybe not, and while we understand Columbia Pictures‘ eagerness to get a much more marketing-friendly rating, let’s not pretend that a PG-13 suddenly turns the picture into a $100 million affair. Yes, “As Good As It Gets” did surpass $100 million thanks to its awards season credentials, but that was mostly due to Jack Nicholson. The awards buzz around “How Do You Know” is non-existent and in general, it hasn’t seemed to gain much traction. And let’s not forget Brooks’ other recent film, the PG-13 “Spanglish,” which pulled in only half of its $80 million budget at the box office.
There is still a month to go before it hits theaters on December 17th and still time to get interest in the film raised considerably, though we don’t expect those under of the age of 18 to really care about this one. To be honest, we’re having a hard time stoking interest in the film either but we’d love to be surprised.
