When "This Means War" hits theaters on Valentine's Day, the Reese Witherspoon action comedy will arrive with a PG-13 rating, TheWrap has confirmed.
Fox, the studio behind the McG film, has trimmed sexual content in the film, and in return the Motion Picture Association of America has removed the R-rating, a spokeswoman for the ratings board said.
In addition to Witherspoon, "This Means War" stars Tom Hardy and Chris Pine. It centers on two CIA agents who compete for the same woman.
Fox lost its appeal on Thursday of the MPAA's rating.
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After hearing statements from Ted Gagliano, president of feature post production for Twentieth Century Fox and from Joan Graves, who chairs the Classification and Rating Administration, the board upheld the R rating due to sexual content.
"This Means War" will now apparently arrive in theaters with a little less steam heat — or at least with the sensuality and sex jokes dialed down a notch or two.
For an appeal to be successful, two-thirds of the board must vote that the rating is "clearly erroneous."
The board reviews between 800 and 900 movies each year. Usually, fewer than 12 are appealed.