 Film studios have pressured the MPAA to retire the NC-17 rating, because of its likely impact on their film's box office revenue.<ref></ref><ref></ref>

During the controversy about the MPAA's decision to give the film "Blue Valentine" (2010) an NC-17 rating (The Weinstein Company challenged this decision, and the MPAA ended up awarding the same cut an R rating on appeal), actor Ryan Gosling, who stars in the film, noted that NC-17 films are not allowed wide advertisement and that, given the refusal of major cinema chains like AMC and Regal to show NC-17 rated movies, many such films will never be accessible to people who live in markets that do not have art house theatres.<ref></ref>

Legal scholar Julie Hilden wrote that the MPAA has a "masterpiece exception" that it has made for films that would ordinarily earn an NC-17 rating, if not for the broader artistic masterpiece that requires the violence depicted as a part of its message.She cites "Saving Private Ryan", with its bloody depiction of the D-Day landings, as an example.This exception is troubling, Hilden argues, because it ignores context and perspective in evaluating other films and favors conventional films over edgier films that contribute newer and more interesting points to public discourse about violence.<ref></ref>

Starting in 2004, GKC Theatres (since absorbed into AMC Theatres) introduced "R-Cards", which parents could obtain for their children under 17 to see R-rated films without adult accompaniment.