More thoughts on Beowulf’s restricted trailer

Peter does a good job of rounding up commentary from around the movie cul-de-sac of the online community regarding the R-rated trailer the PG-13 rated Beowulf.

He offers one thought that had played around in the back of my mind but which I never fully got my head around. Namely, that they could be setting the table for an eventual R- or unrated DVD or IMAX release.

One of the reasons I never put that into words is because I think it would be – and I’m being as generous as I can here – a stupid idea. It’s not like this is going to be frat-house material. If the R is something that the filmmakers thought was necessary they should make that movie. It would make no sense to, as Peter points out, publicly declare your intention to go for the PG-13 if an R-rated film was even a possibility.

There are cases where films and filmmakers are locked, contractually, into a rating. And that’s fine. But if that’s not the case and they’re going for a PG-13 of their own accord then they need to just embrace that and quit it with the mixed messaging. That’s a sure way to lead to brand confusion in the minds of consumers.