Wunderbar! Wir haben more news about Brünoand its controversial certificates. In an unusual move, Universal Pictures, undoubtedly a bit peeved about receiving an 18 cert in Britain, has trimmed a few bits and bobs – if that's the right euphemism for a dancing penis – from the film and resubmitted it to the British Board of Film Classification. The new, less shocking version, granted a 15 cert, will play alongside its raunchier incarnation from July 24th.
“We saw an opportunity to service the audience,” said David Kosse, president of Universal Pictures International. “And it
should also help the gross." ("Service the audience"? You naughty liebling, David.)
Despite Brüno amassing the second-biggest opening (Ach! “Opening”?) for an 18-cert movie in the UK, there were many reports of teenagers apparently being turned away from cinemas.
A story in the trade paper Varietysuggested that the bowdlerised print would play in "Britain and Ireland", but a spokesperson from Universal Ireland confirmed that, considering the film had received a 16 cert here, such a move would make little sense. This is the new Weimar Republic, after all.
Oddly, the last time something similar happened was when Mel Gibson recut The Passion of the Christto enable younger viewers to enjoy the Iron-Age zombie action. I wonder if the socially conservative Gibson would savour the unlikely connection.
