Summit have submitted Jodie Foster’s upcoming comedy/Mel Gibson curiosity “The Beaver” to the MPAA to get an official rating and it has come back branded with a highly ironic PG-13 rating “For mature thematic material, some disturbing content, sexuality and language including a drug reference.”
The film, which producers wish they would have made with director Jay Roach and comedian Steve Carell who were first attached to the project, follows the story of a depressed man who finds solace in wearing a beaver hand-puppet. The film was written by Kyle Killen and was a favorite on the 2008 Black List of best unproduced screenplays.
There is no word yet on Summit’s plans for the film which also stars Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone,” “X-Men: First Class”) but given how cynical the public is about celebrity meltdowns (even at their most racist and misogynistic) they could probably release it and ride that controversy all the way to the bank. At the very least, we do hope it pops up at some festival appearances because high concept comedies don’t come as ambitious as this and we are curious to see what Foster and co. put together (however awkward it will be watching Gibson on screen). [RopeOfSilicon]