This article is an update on our previous coverage of this story.
Well, mostly. The MPAA appeals ruling which was handed down today didn’t completely preclude The Weinstein company from including the words, “The Butler,” in whatever their final title for Lee Daniels’s latest film ends up being called, but it can’t be called just The Butler anymore. With less than a month to go until release, Weinstein will be forced to retitle the movie, although they were spinning the concession of the use of the word “butler” as a win. “The MPAA’s overturning of their original decision to now allow the use of ‘butler’ in the title is a victory,” co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said in a statement.
More than $400,000 in fines later, not to mention legal fees, it seems this story has finally come to a close.