--- description: MPAA gives 'Fifty Shades of Grey' movie an R rating ahead of February release title: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Gets R Rating image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb033cd4265d081/69869dde810bbb3082c92d25/phvkpbpvgfbfzx_1_m.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Fifty Shades of Grey_ Gets R Rating by [Samantha Highfill / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Samantha Highfill / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2015 12:54 AM CUT  Universal Pictures by [Samantha Highfill / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Samantha Highfill / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2015 12:54 AM CUT NC-17 or R? That’s been the discussion surrounding _Fifty Shades of Grey_ since the moment they decided to adapt E.L. James’ bestselling series into a movie. And now, the MPAA has made up its mind: The film will be rated R. According to [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/fifty-shades-of-grey-gets-r-rating-for-unusual-behavior-1201395050/ "undefined"), the MPAA designated the R rating based on “strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity.” There was no mention of Christian Grey’s overwhelming sex appeal, though that was probably meant to be implied. _Fifty Shades of Grey_ arrives in theaters Feb. 13. [_This article originally appeared on EW.com_](http://insidemovies.ew.com/2015/01/07/fifty-shades-of-grey-mpaa-r-rating/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3658914/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-rating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3658914/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-rating/"},"headline":"Fifty Shades of Grey Gets R Rating","datePublished":"2015-01-08T00:54:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:23:16.347Z","description":"MPAA could have chosen NC-17","url":"https://time.com/3658914/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-rating/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb033cd4265d081/69869dde810bbb3082c92d25/phvkpbpvgfbfzx_1_m.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Highfill / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bb033cd4265d081/69869dde810bbb3082c92d25/phvkpbpvgfbfzx_1_m.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"50 Shades of Grey Trailer","caption":"","creditText":"Universal Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3658914/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-rating/","name":"Fifty Shades of Grey Gets R Rating"}}]}] ```