Remember how indecipherable the In Bruges trailer was, with all the swearing bleeped out? And what’s going on in Pineapple Express’s, right? (Uh, is it about the meteorological phenomenon?)
So, those are approved-for-all “green band” trailers. Visit the websites for either of these films, enter your birthday, and you can view the “red band” trailers, which feature restricted content. (And also make sense.)
Regal Entertainment — the U.S.’s largest theater chain — announced at ShoWest that its cinemas will now project red-banders before R- and NC-17-rated films.
A financial decision, asserts Trinity University Assistant Professor (and Current contributor) Jennifer Henderson, citing data that reveals that while more R-rated films are produced, G and PG films are currently, er, drinking their milkshakes.
Pros are obvious. The cons: Regal’s not completely digital, and accidents happen: That Saw IXX trailer could play before Ratatouille Touille. And though Regal insists it will match red band trailers to films in a genre-friendly fashion, Henderson suggests there will still be audience members who “get more than they paid for”: A gratuitous sex scene in the context of an epic film is something different when it dominates a two-minute preview. XO.
