Ang Lee's 'Lust' Too Hot for Hollywood

Focus Features says it will stand by Ang Lee and his racy new war flick “Lust, Caution,” even though a movie trade group branded the film NC-17. The film industry's Scarlet Letter could cost the pic audiences, ad dollars, and theater distribution, but Focus CEO James Schamus said he won’t “change a frame” to satisfy the MPAA—or even appeal its decision.

“Lust,” already glowing from Oscar heat, chronicles the efforts of a young Chinese woman to seduce and kill a Japanese collaborator during WWII. Sources tell the Hollywood Reporter the "Brokeback Mountain" director's film was too much for the MPAA, with its graphic display of sex—which Schamus calls “integral” to the characters’ "emotional arc." (More Ang Lee stories.)