The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)
Gross: $8 Million (U.S.)By the '80s, respectable theater chains were refusing to carry any film with an X-rating, regardless of its content. This made any film that received this rating commercially inviable. Peter Greenaway's surreal film chose to be released unrated rather than accepting the dreaded X. Following the art house success of films such as this, the MPAA created the NC-17 rating with the intention of having a designation that could be applied to serious films with content considered too mature for young audiences.
