Harvey Weinstein (Getty Images)

Harvey Weinstein's Weinstein Company has apparently capitulated to the Motion Picture Association of America, cutting some profanity (though not any scenes in full) in order to obtain the PG-13 rating that will allow for wider viewership. Per the Los Angeles Times, the new version of the film is to roll out on April 13, when the film expands from limited to wide release. This ends a détente between Mr. Weinstein and the ratings board, during which Mr. Weinstein had previously decided to leave his film unrated rather than face the R-rating stigma. Referring to MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd and the film's subject matter, Mr. Weinstein said in a statement: "“Senator Dodd’s support gives voice to the millions of children who suffer from bullying, and on behalf of TWC, the filmmakers, the families in the film and the millions of children and parents who will now see this film, I thank him for recognizing that this very real issue cannot afford to go unnoticed.”"

Mr. Weinstein had previously threatened to leave the MPAA, a group of which the Weinstein Company is not a member, over the rating; he also mobilized Weinstein Company movie stars like Meryl Streep for special screenings and benefited (at least in terms of publicity) from an online petition circulated by a Michigan teen. Bully enters the marketplace with far more publicity than your average documentary--even if it bears no rating.

The petition at the time of this writing has 86,978 signatories--a total that, if they all went to see Bully on its opening weekend, would represent a significant boon for the Weinstein Company. The production house has threatened to leave the MPAA over the rating. We've reached out to Ms. Butler for comment as to how she became aware of the film, and will update if she responds.

UPDATE: Ms. Butler called The Observer after her school day and before homework to talk briefly about the petition, which she says she began after becoming aware of the film and its ratings battle on her own. "I get a lot of emails around bullying because I worked on the Michigan Antibullying Policy  in November of last year, so I’ve been really involved in all the bullying things." She watched clips of the film online and began the petition yesterday, at which point Change.org sent the petition to its email list as a highlighted cause. The 85,000-plus signatories followed quickly.

The film's director, Lee Hirsch, called Ms. Butler on the phone today to thank her, though she had less luck contacting the MPAA: "They are very hard to get a hold of."

Ms. Butler, a high-school junior, said of her future plans: "I want to go to college in the near future--it's pretty exciting!--and I want to do political activism."

Reached for comment, a representative for the MPAA directed us to a blog post reading in part: "The voluntary ratings system enables parents to make an informed decision about what content they allow their children to see in movies.  The R rating and description of “some language” for Bully does not mean that children cannot see the film.  As with any movie, parents will decide if they want their children to see Bully."

Harvey Weinstein (Getty Images)

The Weinstein Company, which has had a complicated history with the Motion Picture Association of America in recent years, is threatening to leave the MPAA, a group that lobbies Washington and issues ratings. Harvey Weinstein's company lost its appeal to knock the rating of forthcoming documentary Bully, about high-school brutality, from R to PG-13. Mr. Weinstein argued that the film was important for people under 18 to see--an argument that failed to sway the ratings board.

Mr. Weinstein's company does not actually belong to the lobbying group, but the Los Angeles Times speculates he may in fact be removing his films from ratings consideration going forward--a decision that would seem to have farther-reaching consequences for Weinstein films than for the MPAA. Unrated films, like NC-17-rated films, carry a stigma--a fact of which Mr. Weinstein is almost certainly aware after submitting the sexually explicit 2010 film Blue Valentine for ratings consideration and arguing it down to an R rating.