Movie producers want to avoid adult-only rating and appeal to women By Paul Revoir Tv Correspondent There was a time when films stood little chance of success unless there was something steamy going on at some point. These days, however, it seems movie moguls find sex one big turn-off. Experts say intimate love scenes have been vanishing from movie scripts in the last 18 months. Sexually explicit movies like Basic Instinct, starring Sharon Stone, are no longer popular Special effects, such as in the film The Day After Tomorrow, are much more likely to appeal to viewers This is not only because producers want to avoid an adult-only rating, but also because women are increasingly the ones who choose what film to watch when they go to the cinema with their partner. It marks a huge shift from the days when films deliberately courted controversy with their sex scenes. Among the most famous examples of this were Sharon Stone uncrossing her legs in Basic Instinct and 9½ Weeks, which starred Kim Basinger. Vincent Bruzzese, president of the film division of market research company Ipsos, said sex scenes were now regularly removed from scripts by producers. The executive, whose company looks at scripts for studios and filmmakers, said: "Sex scenes used to be written, no matter the plot, to spice up a trailer. But all that does today is get a film an adult-only rating and lose a younger audience. He told the Sunday Times: "They ask: do we really need the sex? Can we fill the space with dazzling special effects instead and keep the family-friendly rating. It was pointed out how this year's best picture hopefuls at the Oscars contained a lot of violence but no explicit sex scenes. Romantic plotlines feature less in modern films as they are more likely to incur R-rating The Sessions, starring Helen Hunt, is one recent film featuring sex scenes that has failed to win big audiences Nicole Kidman's film The Paperboy, in which she plays a trashy blonde, also flopped Among recent films which have featured sex scenes which have failed to win big audiences are The Sessions, which stars Helen Hunt as a sex surrogate, and The Paperboy starring Nicole Kidman as a trashy blonde with a sexual predilection for Death Row prisoners. Film producers are now desperate to avoid an adult-only rating because young people often drive the box office success of movies. The trend has also been linked to a report put together for Warner Bros, which suggested that women over 25 are most likely to decide what film a couple watch. Research also shows the percentage of adult-only films in the UK dropped to 8 per cent last year, as compared with 12 per cent in 2001. Only two films containing sex and nudity made the box office top ten last year. Adrian Lyne, who directed 9½ Weeks and Fatal Attraction, said these types of film would not be supported today. He told Entertainment Weekly: "I can't think of the last relationship piece that was a success... which is apparently why I haven't done something for quite a while now." Hollywood insiders also point out that gratuitous sex scenes are not highly valued by audiences, notably in an era where pornography is easily accessible on the internet.