Seven seconds cut to “reduce an emphasis on blood and injury”.

Gary Ross’ upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young adult novel The Hunger Games has been cut in Britain to achieve a 12A classification.

Seven seconds of cuts, some or all of which were substitutions, were made at the request of the distributor Lionsgate and all in one scene. The cuts were implemented by “digitally removing sight of blood splashes and sight of blood on wounds and weapons” and an uncut 15 version was available.

These were made in addition to earlier advice given by the British Board Of Film Classification (BBFC) to Lionsgate after viewing the film in an unfinished form during post-production. When it was submitted for formal classification, “cuts had been made in four scenes of violence and in one scene showing details of injuries. These reductions were implemented by a mixture of visual cuts, visual darkenings and the digital removal of sight of blood,” according to the BBFC entry.

The film was passed uncut by the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) on March 7 and has been classified a 12A but IFCO state that the film “is at the high end of this classification”, while it has been passed uncut and classified PG-13 in the US by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) due to “intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens”.

The Hunger Games is released on March 23 in the UK through Lionsgate, day-and-date with the US.

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