PRODUCERS WIN RATING APPEAL OVER ROBERTS STARRER

In a rare decision to remove an R rating from a movie and replace it with a PG-13 — without forcing edits in the film — the MPAA’s classification and ratings appeals board has bowed to Columbia Pictures executives’ arguments on behalf of the Julia Roberts starrer Eat Pray Love. Writer-director Ryan Murphy and producer Dede Gardner had taken their case before the rating board. The film, which is due to open on August 13, will now carry the PG-13 rating but with the warning that the movie includes “brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity.”