When "This Means War [4]" hits theaters on Valentine's Day, the Reese Witherspoon action comedy will arrive with a PG-13 rating, TheWrap has confirmed.
Fox, the studio behind the McG film, has trimmed sexual content in the film, and in return the Motion Picture Association of America has removed the R-rating, a spokeswoman for the ratings board said.
In addition to Witherspoon, "This Means War" stars Tom Hardy [5] and Chris Pine [6]. It centers on two CIA agents who compete for the same woman.
Fox lost its appeal on Thursday of the MPAA's rating.
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After hearing statements from Ted Gagliano, president of feature post production for Twentieth Century Fox and from Joan Graves, who chairs the Classification and Rating Administration, the board upheld the R rating due to sexual content.
"This Means War" will now apparently arrive in theaters with a little less steam heat -- or at least with the sensuality and sex jokes dialed down a notch or two.
For an appeal to be successful, two-thirds of the board must vote that the rating is "clearly erroneous."
The board reviews between 800 and 900 movies each year. Usually, fewer than 12 are appealed.