Weinstein Co. made a deal with MGM to distribute some of their titles through the studio, recently acquired by Sony. Problem is, MGM being an MPAA signatory, that would require all of the Weinstein Co. flicks to be “R” rated at their hardest. For months now, we’ve been talking about (with Harvey Weinstein’s blessing, naturally) going out with “Clerks II” unrated.

So even though “Clerks II” was one of the titles MGM announced it was distributing with the Weinstein deal, the uncertainty of our rating has left the issue up in the air, as far as Scott and I were concerned.

Nevertheless, we’ve now been instructed to include an MGM logo on the exclusive online trailer… even though we don’t know whether or not MGM will ultimately distribute it.

Ah, the ever-changing movie biz…

It’s not like we don’t want to be distributed by MGM; Lord knows they’ll be able to get us into a bunch of theaters as well as secure a big pay cable fee for the flick when the times comes, which makes the Weinstein Company very happy (remember, folks: called it’s show BUSINESS). There’s also a bit of perverse joy in seeing the Lion that roared in front of Dorothy and the Tin Man do the same in front of our dirty little flick. However, if it means we’ve gotta cut the guts out of our movie to secure an “R”, the whole thing is a lot less appetizing for me – regardless of how much more money there is to make.

So what it all comes down to is the MPAA screening of the flick, come mid-May. If, in a perfect world, they hand “Clerks II” an “R” rating, with zero cuts necessary, all’s well that ends well. But if the MPAA slaps us with an NC-17… well, things could get dicey.