Quentin Tarantino
After Quentin Tarantino attempted to publish his original screenplay to Natural Born Killers as a paperback book, as he had done with his scripts for True Romance and his own directorial efforts, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, the producers of Natural Born Killers filed a lawsuit against Tarantino, claiming that when he sold the script to them, he had forfeited the publishing rights; eventually, Tarantino was allowed to publish his original script.[67] Tarantino disowned the film, saying, "I hated that fucking movie. If you like my stuff, don't watch that movie."[68][69]
Censorship
When the film was first submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), employees told Stone they would give it an NC-17 unless he edited it. As such, Stone removed some violence by cutting approximately four minutes of footage and the MPAA re-rated the film as an R. In 1996, a Director's Cut was released on home video by Vidmark Entertainment and Pioneer Entertainment.[70] Warner Home Video later released this cut on Blu-ray.[71]
The film was banned in Ireland, including – controversially – from cinema clubs. The ban was later lifted.[72][73] In the UK, though the cinema release was delayed while the BBFC investigated reports that the film caused copycat murders in the USA and France, it was finally shown in cinemas in February 1995. The BBFC classified the film uncut at 18, citing strong bloody violence and sexual violence.[74][75] The film was also banned in the Philippines by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), a government agency.[76]
The original intended UK home video release in March 1996 was cancelled due to the Dunblane massacre in Scotland. In the meantime, Channel Five showed the film in November 1997. It was finally released on video in July 2001.[77] Entertainment Weekly ranked the film as the eighth most controversial film ever.[78]
"Copycat" crimes
From almost the moment of its release, the film has been accused of encouraging and inspiring numerous murderers in North America, including the perpetrators of the 1997 Heath High School shooting and the Columbine High School massacre. The Columbine killers even code-named their attack "NBK", an initialism for Natural Born Killers.[79]
