“Deep Throat,” the infamous 1972 adult film that led to a government crackdown on pornography, is being re-released in theaters as a new generation of lawmakers wages a renewed assault on smut, trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Tuesday edition.
The release of the Linda Lovelace opus, which was banned at the time in 23 states, coincides with the premiere of the documentary “Inside Deep Throat,” which hits theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston Friday.
The original film, which was made in six days for $25,000 and has grossed over $600 million, will not be ready until at least Feb. 18, the paper said. Las Vegas-based Arrow Prods., which owns the rights to the mob-funded “Deep Throat,” started striking 10 prints Monday, it added. Five of the prints will be edited to garner an “R” rating, which allows admission to children aged under 17 if accompanied by an adult.
The documentary, co-produced by Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of “A Beautiful Mind,” is rated NC-17, which denies admission to anyone aged 17 and under. It is being distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co.-controlled NBC Universal.
It shows how “Deep Throat” popularized a form of sexual pleasure previously considered taboo. But the Nixon administration was not amused, sending in the FBI to close down screenings, and taking legal action against the film’s director, Jerry Damiano, and stars.
Meanwhile, a bill that would increase fines for smutty broadcasts to $500,000 per incident from $32,500, is wending its way through Congress with bipartisan support, inspired in part by Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl last year.