Will the R-Rated ‘King’s Speech’ Get a Family-Friendly PG-13 Cut?

Colin Firth with Helena Bonham Carter

The King’s Speech leads this year’s Oscar nominations with 12 mentions, which is reportedly sparking the British period film’s surge at the box office. But the bosses at the film’s studio, the Weinstein Company, feel that the R-rated drama could attract even more filmgoers if it could secure a family-friendly PG-13 rating from the MPAA.

Many might find The King’s Speech‘s R-rating a bit puzzling: after all, the movie contains no nudity, sex, or graphic violence. The rating stems from those therapy scenes in which Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) encourages the stammering King George VI (Colin Firth) to express his frustrations through the dropping of F-bombs.

Deadline reports that “educators believe kids would benefits from seeing The King’s Speech and are asking The Weinstein Co for a cut of the movie without all the “f***s” that gave it an “R” rating from the MPAA.” Also, “exhibitors believe the movie could then pile up grosses on the order of True Grit which has been appealing to young audiences because of its PG-13 rating.”

Studio head Harvey Weinstein is reportedly allowing director Tom Hooper to make the final decision. “If Tom doesn’t want it, it won’t happen,” Deadline’s source says. “Harvey won’t be Edward Scissorhands.”