Struggling Netflix Officially Receives First NC-17 Rating

in Movies & TV

marilyn monroe singing diamonds are a girl's best friend in gentlemen prefer blondes

Credit: 20th Century Studios

In recent months, Netflix — formerly the king of streaming services — has been struggling to maintain subscribers amid the rise of other options like Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and more.

Netflix Logo
Credit: Netflix

Related: Actor Convinced “Nobody,” Not Even Thanos, Can Beat the MCU’s New Villain

As a matter of fact, Netflix recently lost the rights to all of its Marvel seriesDaredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders.

charlie cox (left) and vincent d'onofrio (right) in daredevil prison scene
Credit: Netflix

Related: One ‘Star Wars’ Episode Officially Has More Viewers Than Entire Netflix Series

The shows have now landed on Disney+ following the official Marvel Cinematic Universe debuts of two fan-favorite Daredevil characters, Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) in Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld’s Disney+ Original Hawkeye series.

Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan (left), Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock (middle), and Tom Holland as Peter Parker (right)
Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony Pictures

Related: ‘Star Wars’ Actor Hopes to Replace Regé-Jean Page In ‘Bridgerton’

Things have been so touch-and-go for the streamer, in fact, that one analyst recently insisted Netflix needed to make “drastic changes” in order to survive.

Now, it seems that the brand has made at least one change in order to appeal to mature audiences. Netflix recently received its first-ever NC-17 rating for the upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde.

marilyn monroe laughing
Credit: ABC

Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Star Millie Bobby Brown Looks Incredible as Princess Leia

According to one article about the Ana de Armas flick:

This is the highest possible rating that can be given by the Motion Picture Association of America, and is traditionally given to films that feature adult content regarded as suitable for viewers ages 18 and older. This marks the first mainstream film in several years to keep an NC-17 rating, after recent films Midsommar, Wrong Turn, Spiral, and The King’s Man all were edited towards an R rating, with Midsommar subsequently releasing an additional unrated cut. Blonde also has the honor of being the first Netflix original film to be given an NC-17 rating.

blonde book cover
Credit: HarPeren Publishing

Blonde is a long-awaited adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name. Amazon provides the following back cover snippet:

In her most ambitious work to date, Joyce Carol Oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker — the child, the woman, the fated celebrity and idolized blonde the world came to know as Marilyn Monroe. In a voice startlingly intimate and rich, Norma Jeane tells her own story of an emblematic American artist — intensely conflicted and driven — who had lost her way. A powerful portrait of Hollywood’s myth and an extraordinary woman’s heartbreaking reality, Blonde is a sweeping epic that pays tribute to the elusive magic and devastation behind the creation of the great twentieth-century American star.

jane russell (left) and marilyn monroe (right) in gentlemen prefer blondes
Credit: 20th Century Studios

Related: Disney’s Hollywood Studios Holds a Huge Piece of History!

IMDb notes that the 2022 film is also notably set to star Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller.

What do you think about Netflix getting its first NC-17 rating?

in Movies & TV

View Comments (8)