"Bruno" tailored in UK for younger crowd

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen arrives for the British premiere of the film Bruno at Leicester Square in central London, June 17, 2009.

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - Universal Pictures U.K. is releasing a re-edited version of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" to secure a "15" certificate, rather than the more restrictive "18" rating, in an effort to boost audience turnout. It's the first time that two versions of one film will have been released at the same time in the United Kingdom.

The "15" version -- which is limited to viewers 15 and older -- is 110 seconds shorter than the original "18" film and was submitted to the British Board of Film Classification only on Monday.

Three scenes in the original with strong sex and sex references are considered by the board to go beyond the "15" level but are acceptable at the adult "18" category, which limits audiences to those 18 and older.

The first scene features a montage of exaggerated sexual activity between Bruno and his boyfriend. The second shows Bruno comically miming oral sex. The third features sex among couples at a swingers' party, with sexual detail obscured.

All are likely to be cut to achieve the "15" certification. A BBFC spokesman said that the recut movie had only just landed on his desk and he could not say which parts had been chopped.

The movie, in its unadulterated "18" version, reached the top box-office spot here and in the U.S. in its opening weekend, grossing 5 million pounds ($8.1 million) in the U.K. and $30.4 million in the States.

Universal said movie theaters across the U.K. "have reported turning away large numbers of under-18s who were keen to see the new film."

Universal Pictures International president David Kosse said he hoped the cut version would bring in bigger audiences. The studio said it does not plan to submit edited versions of the film in any of the other seven territories in which it is releasing "Bruno."

Baron Cohen stars as the title character, an outlandish gay Austrian TV fashion presenter with an unquenchable thirst for fame.

The U.K. has seen reclassification of movies before, but never for simultaneous release. "Saturday Night Fever," originally given an "X" certificate, was reclassified a year later as a "PG" with agreed cuts. More recently, "The Passion of the Christ" was rereleased months after its "18" certificate debut, with cuts designed to achieve a "15" certification.

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)