MPAA ratings are voluntary, but the vast majority of theaters will only show rated films.
this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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The MPAA is not a government agency, it's an industry self-rating board. Same shit, different decade as the ESRB. You can make, distribute and exhibit films without an MPAA rating in the United States. But, most theaters especially the large chains will refuse to show your film, it won't be broadcast on television, and most if not all cable channels will refuse to show it, either by contract or simply as a business decision.
Can you create a movie similar to the “Serbian Film” while overseas but will it be approved by the MPAA for theater screenings?
Yes. A Serbian Film (2010, directed by Srđan Spasojević) was rated NC-17 by the MPAA and its first ever screening was in Austin, Texas.
Unrated movies (particularly unrated extended cuts) are produced and sold all the time. Usually released directly to the home movie /streaming markets. Probably less now than in the past, but for many years it was a very lucrative marketing strategy.
I was going to make that point. Especially in the horror or boner comedy genres where being outrageous is the point, movies are often edited for an R rating for theatrical release and then will proudly boast being unrated on the DVD packaging.
So I was going to say that in general theaters won't play films that are unrated or rated NC-17, although you might get a small independent theater to play an unrated film.
However in article discussing the film Terrifier 3,
Before the pandemic, few movie theaters would book a title that didn’t have a rating, because of strict limits on TV advertising, among other things. But times have changed, and Terrifier 3 was able to secure a berth in 2,513 cinemas.
...had [Terrifier 3] been submitted, it risked receiving an NC-17 rating, meaning that no one 17 or younger could buy a ticket, period.
theaters carrying the film, including the three biggest circuits (AMC, Cinemark and Regal), are treating Terrifier 3 as if it were an R-rated film
So it sounds like an unrated film could play in a major theater. However the film Terrifier 3 is a horror film and likely has a lot of violence, which culturally speaking Americans are more ok with. Your example is around sex which Americans are usually more taboo about.
Obviously it depends on the film, but I think if you made a film you think would get an NC-17 rating, you'd be better off releasing it as unrated and then trying to convince (major) theaters the film will be successful enough to make money in order to get it shown.