I just saw a commercial for Fahrenheit 9/11 and at the end, it said “This film has not yet been rated.” Since it’s coming out tomorrow … what are they waiting for? Will it be rated when it hits theaters tomorrow? Can a movie be released nationally before it gets rated?
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It was initially rated “R”, they appealed, the appeal has just been turned down so it’s going out as an “R”. While on appeal, it did not have an official rating.
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Every film can be released without a rating. There are usually a movie or 2 in Ebert’s current review list that isn’t rated. The MPAA tends to give abnormally harsh ratings to films that tick it off, so some filmmakers just ignore them. (E.g., “Clerks” was originally rated “X”. No movie had ever been considered “X”-rated just for language before.)
I was wondering about this, too, but it could be that the rating hadn’t been issued when the commercial was produced, and has since, but the ads just haven’t been updated.
The ads I have seen today now say that the movie is rated R.