14 DAY TRIAL // The first official trailer for the sequel for the high-grossing and critically acclaimed buddy comedy “The Hangover” is being pulled from theaters all across the US on claims that it wasn’t rated by the MPAA and was too offensive to be seen by kids.
TMZ reports that Warner Bros. owned up to its mistake of not having the trailer submitted for approval with the Motion Picture Association of America, and just releasing it like that.
The trailer, running ahead of screenings of Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Source Code,” includes offensive language and even more offensive innuendos, which may have also sparked complaints with some parents.
“The trailer for H.O.2 – which is rated R – debuted on April 1 in front of the movie ‘Source Code’ – which is rated PG-13,” TMZ says.
The trailer should have also been rated an R and thus not play ahead of a PG-13 movie, but Warners execs skipped this step in the ratings process and released it before the MPAA could rate it accordingly.
“In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens,” a statement from the movie studio says.
Interestingly enough, PopEater has a different take on the same story, since it claims the trailer was given the greenlight from the MPAA, as the video below also states.
Then, what could have prompted Warners to yank the trailer from theaters is strong complaints from parents who took their kids to see “Source Code” – and got more than they bargained for with “The Hangover 2.”
“We’ve heard no additional reasoning from the MPAA, but it is worth noting that they did originally approve of the trailer with a non-restrictive green-band rating,” PopEater says.
“Early speculation is that there was a complaint (or multiple complaints) from families who went to see ‘Source Code’ and were exposed to the ‘Hangover’ trailer’s skirting the non-restricted line with slight profanity and lots of debauchery-filled humor,” the e-zine explains.
Below is the trailer that got Warners and parents all riled up. A new, sanitized version of it will debut next week, on April 15. *Please be advised that it may be considered offensive.