You’ve recently only been able to see them online (if you were old enough), but The Hollywood Reporter says that the nation’s largest theater chain, Regal Entertainment Group, has now decided to permit restricted, “Red Band” trailers in its multiplexes.
As an industry leader that operates 6,388 screens in 39 states and the District of Columbia, Regal’s policy change likely will lead to similar decisions at a number of the nation’s other major chains, adds the trade.
The company’s decision was received enthusiastically by distributors who have had to promote such R-rated comedies as Knocked Up and Superbad with sanitized, green band trailers tailored for general audiences.
The MPAA’s Advertising Administration, which oversees the advertising materials used by its member studios, approves two types of trailers for use in the theaters. So-called green band trailers open with a green advisory card that reads “the following preview has been approved for all audiences.” Red band trailers, which only can appear before R-rated, NC-17-rated or unrated movies, warn that “the following preview has been approved for restricted audiences only.”
Studios once used red band trailers routinely, but theaters dropped them after a 2000 Federal Trade Commission report criticizing the entertainment industry for marketing violent entertainment to children.
