The Christian film loses its appeal to ditch an uncustomary "R" rating.
The Reliant, starring Christian actor Kevin Sorbo, tells a distopian tale of America in anarchy after economic collapse. And while it is not exactly traditional faith-based fare - a statement on its website says it both "encourages faith in Jesus" and "upholds the right to keep and bear arms" - filmmakers were up in arms, so to speak, when the Motion Picture Association of America gave it an "R" rating last fall; they promptly launched an appeal.
Unfortunately, the MPAA's appeals body has now returned the same decision: the "R" rating stays. The Reliant's team called the decision biased, but released a statement saying they will take steps of their own to remove that potentially audience-limiting rating.
"We prayerfully decided to reduce some of the Visual Special Effects adding blood in some of the more violent scenes, and re-submit for a re-rating. Our distributor believes a PG-13 will maximize our theatrical release. Pray that we get it."
In addition to prayers, the filmmakers are asking for financial contributions to help cover additional costs for re-editing the movie. If you'd like to pitch in, you can do so via this Pay Pal link set up for the purpose.
Written by Dr. Patrick Johnston, The Reliant is based on his book by the same name. In addition to Sorbo, the film stars Mollee Gray, former NFL linebacker-turned-actor Brian Bosworth and Eric Roberts. There is obviously no release date as the ratings process has yet to run its course, but Christian Film Blog will keep you up to speed on developments.