The American distributors of Lars von Trier’s gruesome serial killer film The House That Jack Built are facing sanctions from the US ratings board after screening an unauthorised version of the film.
While unrated film releases are common, the fact that two versions of the same film are showing in close successions appears to have fallen foul of the MPAA’s regulations.
Failure to comply with the rules can create confusion among parents and undermine the rating system — and may result in the imposition of sanctions against the film’s submitter.”
IFC are planning to release an R-rated edit on 14 December in the US, but the director’s cut – essentially the same version that played at the Cannes film festival and prompted mass walkouts – has also been marketed for release unrated.