Kevin Smith's new movie is called Jack and Miri Make A Porno. So we were a little surprised that Smith was shocked to learn his film, which features constant jokes about sex and, of course, sex itself was slapped with an NC-17 rating...

The Clerks director then censored two of the movie's sex scenes involving co-stars Jason Mewes and Katie Morgan, but failed to convince the board to lower the rating to an R.

He subsequently launched an appeal against the decision - and on Tuesday the MPAA announced its appeals panel, which is separate from the ratings board, had screened the movie, about two friends who launch an amateur porn studio, and decided to revise the rating to an R.

Smith explains, "We didn't set out to make an Nc-17 film. That's just commercial suicide...

"They felt it was rather sexually graphic. My point is, it was comically graphic. All the sex in the movie with the exception of one scene is very cartoonish, very campy. It wasn't designed to titillate."

And Smith is confident the title alone will filter out audiences who could be offended by the content: "Anybody not inclined to see a movie with `Porno' in the title is not going to see it, so it kind of regulates itself to a degree. And anybody who is going is not going to be surprised by what they see."

The film is set for a Halloween release.