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Billboard for Horror Flick Removed
Los Angeles, California—Marketing professionals behind the upcoming horror film Captivity apparently were looking for a controversy when they erected billboards of the lead actress Elisha (24, Girl Next Door) Cuthbert being tortured.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the billboards were taken down from locations in Los Angeles and New York. And the punishment doesn’t stop there: The producers from After Dark Films will have to wait an extra month before they can seek a rating—which could hamper the film’s planned May 18 release.
An After Dark executive told the Times the advertisements were posted on billboards accidentally due to a slip-up at the printing company.
But according to the AP, the Motion Picture Association of America’s senior vice president for advertising, Marilyn Gordon, said Thursday, April 12, that the trade group had “summarily rejected” the billboards before they were posted. (The group must “OK” all promotional materials for a movie that is seeking an industry rating.)
“The sanctions in this case are severe because this was an unacceptable and flagrant violation of MPAA rules and procedures,” Gordon said in a statement. She said the film company “proceeded to post (the ads) on billboards anyway.”
Captivity will not be eligible for consideration by the ratings board until May 1 and will not receive priority at that time, according to the MPAA.
The company and its distributors still must clear all promotional materials for Captivity with the MPAA and now must also get OK for all of the locations and venues for all advertising bought for the film—the first time the latter requirement has been imposed by the industry group, according to the Times.
—Lori Andreozzi
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