Why Did The Hangover Part II Trailer Get Pulled From Theaters? [UPDATE]

While discussing the underwhelming first trailer for The Hangover Part II recently, director Todd Phillips bemoaned the fact that he couldn't reveal all the good stuff in the marketing. "[T]he truth is, we're constrained by the fact that we're R-rated, so you can't give -- even the trailer you just saw, that's a PG-13 trailer, so by the nature of the movie, we're holding so much stuff back just because you can't show it." Maybe he should have held back even more? At least according to the MPAA.

In a letter obtained by /Film, Warner Bros. told theater owners on Tuesday that all copies of The Hangover Part II trailer must be removed from showings of Source Code "and/or any current placements" at the behest of the studio and the MPAA. All copies of the trailer were to be "deleted" from theater servers immediately, and new new trailer for The Hangover Part II will premiere in front of Scream 4 next week.

No reason for the request was given -- /Film received a quick "no comment" from Warner Bros.; see update below! -- which begs the question: Did content presented in The Hangover Part II trailer push the envelope too far? After all, it's not often that you see a green-band trailer using phrases like "gay boys," "bitches," "whore," and "weenus." It's also not often that you see a monkey pantomiming fellatio.

UPDATE: Movieline sister site Deadline did receive word from Warner Bros., and it turns out that having the trailer for the R-rated The Hangover Part II in front of the PG-13-rated Source Code was a no-no. Said Warner Bros. in a statement: "In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens." And now you know.

Watch the trailer here, and check out a screencap of the letter below.

· MPAA Pulls 'The Hangover: Part II' Trailer From Movie Theaters? [/Film]