MGM Embraces NC-17 Rating for ‘Showgirls’ : Movies: The studio plans to open the film in 1,000 theaters, a record for an NC-17 work.

“Showgirls,” director Paul Verhoeven’s graphic depiction of the Las Vegas strip scene, received an NC-17 rating Thursday, but rather than appeal the ruling, MGM officials will open the film in 1,000 theaters, a record number for any NC-17-rated film.

“We’re embracing the rating on the basis of the material,” said Frank Mancuso, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Inc. “We agree with the rating and we feel that this is an appropriate release size. We believe it’s a commercial subject, and with the size and pattern of the release that there’s an opportunity for the film to gross a substantial amount of money.”

“Showgirls” is scheduled for release on Sept. 22. Prior to this, the largest initial distribution for a film rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Assn. of America was “Henry and June,” released in October, 1990, on about 300 screens.

Mancuso said he hoped the rating would “not carry any stigma attached to it but simply be a way of advising the public” of its raw sexual content.

He said that MGM showed a 13-minute reel made up of excerpts of the film to distributors and owners of major theater chains to provide them with some advance notice of the graphic nature of the film.

“They said they would not dismiss it based on its rating,” Mancuso said.

However, in the wake of recent remarks by Sen. Robert Dole, a Republican presidential hopeful, excoriating Hollywood for portraying “nightmares of depravity,” some exhibitors expressed hesitation about showing the film, whose MPAA rating was for “nudity, erotic sexuality throughout and graphic language and sexual violence.” They speculated that some theater owners--particularly those in malls or with restrictive leases--may choose not to run the film.

“I think they’re being fairly optimistic and I don’t think that’s the right way to go with the thing,” said one Southern California exhibitor, who predicted possible protests of the film by religious or women’s groups. “I think I would try going the route of art houses. But, they’re going to end up with a lot of controversy on this one. And that’s probably what they’re hoping for.”

“If the picture isn’t good, [MGM’s] strategy will be instant death,” said one industry observer.

Advertising in newspapers and on television stations might also be limited because of the content of the film.

For instance, Andrew Lozano, administrator of broadcast standards for KTLA-TV Channel 5, said his channel likely would not air ads for the film during prime time or during other family-oriented show times.

“We would probably run it, but it would be restricted,” Lozano said.

MGM officials acknowledge that it may not play in shopping malls, but say that plenty of other theaters will be willing to show it.

The NC-17 rating, which replaced the MPAA’s X rating in 1990, prohibits children younger than 17 from being admitted.

The film, which follows the career of an aspiring showgirl, was written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Verhoeven, the team behind “Basic Instinct.” Because of his experience with that film, which required several edits to earn an R rating, Eszterhas stipulated that any studio buying his script be willing to accept an NC-17.

“It was in the deal from the beginning that the NC-17 was a possibility,” Verhoeven said. “And I think everybody knew that an NC-17 would be a likely outcome. MGM stepped into this adventure knowing this would be what it would face, so there were no restrictions to try to make it an R.”

Verhoeven defended the film’s racy material.

“It’s not soft porn, I don’t know if it’s titillation or not,” Verhoeven said. “But it does take nudity for granted. . . . Women are topless and that’s how it is. . . . It also pushes the envelope portraying sexuality in a more precise way than you normally do in American movies.”

He also said Dole and other politicians may not have been taking an accurate pulse of the American public when harshly criticizing Hollywood films.

“I have good hopes that the American people will like it, despite what politicians say,” said Verhoeven, a native of the Netherlands. “I think people are more adult and more open than politicians give them credit for.”