Raunchy Trailers Coming to Theater Near You

If you weren’t sure what to expect from Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the movie’s R-rated preview makes it quite explicit, Josh Levin notes in Slate—and it’s just the latest of a growing number of films to market itself with such so-called red-band trailers. Thirty age-restricted previews have been approved already this year, matching the total number made in all of the previous 6 years.

Green-band trailers, approved for all audiences, remain the most common, but studios are increasingly switching to red to add greater dollops of gore, sex, and raunchy language. One possible reason: The MPAA can regulate such trailers in theaters, but they can't control who ogles them on the Internet. If studios make them, there's a better chance the much-coveted under-17 crowd will see them now.
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