The trailers for The Wolf of Wall Street have been full of drugs, money, and ladies, usually the making of a great film, right? In a year where sex has been more openly embraced in cinema (I’m looking at you, Nymphomaniac and Blue is the Warmest Color), the MPAA still holds final say in what can and can’t be featured in a film. There are certain factors that separate an R-rated film from an NC-17, such as the amount of boobs, blood, swears, et al. While an NC-17 rating nowadays isn’t much of a death knell as it used to be in years past thanks to the emergence of VOD and legal, alternative sources, it’s still not a rating a mainstream studio like Paramount Pictures or Universal Pictures would want due to major theater chains’ refusal to carry films rated rated higher than an R.
The Wolf of Wall Street, the next film to come from the brilliant pairing of director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, faced some editing mishaps earlier this year when it faced the potential of missing Oscars consideration due to Scorsese’s original cut running too long. The second cut Scorsese submitted faced a potential NC-17 rating by the MPAA because of an excess of nudity and sex After all, The Wolf of Wall Street is all about the hedonistic lifestyle that main character Jordan Belfort embraced during the Wall Street boom of the ’90s, so it’s no surprise that the film would have its fair share of skin. The final cut Scorsese submitted clocks in at 179 minutes, the director’s longest film to date.
The Wolf of Wall Street will be in theaters on Christmas.
[via /Film]