The NC-17 rating means no one under 17 can be admitted, it is the most restrictive rating for a US movie, it generally limits how many theaters are willing to screen a movie, negatively impacting its ability to earn money at the box office. It is rarely given and usually only to films with large amounts of horror type gore or sex. In this case 'Lust, Caution's sexual content is the culprit. Many movie makers will re-edit their films to avoid this rating, but Focus Films, the distributor for 'Lust, Caution' has chosen not to attempt a re-edit. This may hurt the film's chances for Oscar awards. Ang Lee won an oscar for his 2006 film 'Brokeback Mountain'.
The film will debut at the Toronto Film Festival next month and receive a US release by Oct. 5th