DETROIT – The company behind the widely-talked about "Bully" film announced Tuesday that it planed to release it without a rating.

Following an appeal to the Motion Picture Association of America, The Weinstein Company said it had failed – by one vote – to get the film its deserved PG-13 rating. The MPAA had originally rated the movie R.

"The small amount of language in the film that's responsible for the R rating is there because it's real. It's what the children who are victims of bullying face on most days," said director Lee Hirsch. "All of our supporters see that, and we're grateful for the support we've received across the board. I know the kids will come, so it's up to the theaters to let them in."

The film company said the movie is meant to educate.

"The kids and families in this film are true heroes, and we believe theater owners everywhere will step up and do what's right for the benefit of all of the children out there who have been bullied or may have otherwise become bullies themselves. We're working to do everything we can to make this film available to as many parents, teachers and students across the country," said TWC President of Marketing Stephen Bruno.

About 'Bully'

"Bully" is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America's bullying crisis. Filmed over the course of the 2009/2010 school year, BULLY opens a window onto the pained and often endangered lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy "kids will be kids" clichés, and it captures a growing movement among parents and youths to change how bullying is handled in schools, in communities and in society as a whole.

The movie will be released in theaters on Friday, March 30 in New York at the Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square and in Los Angeles at The Landmark, ArcLight Hollywood and AMC Century City.

For parents or teachers who are looking for more information or who may have concerns about showing children a movie unrated by the MPAA, please read Common Sense Media's rating details of the film here: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bully

Michigan teen takes on Hollywood

A 17-year-old Ann Arbor student, unhappy with the movie's original R-rating went to California to deliver more than 200,000 names from her online campaign to the

Motion Picture Association of America.

Katy Butler objected to the R-rating because she said teen's won't want to see he movie if they have to be with a parents.

"It would be such a great tool to fix the bullying problem in the United States. Then it's rated R. That's so counterproductive," Butler said, in an earlier interview with Local 4.

She says teens won't want to see the movie if they have to be with their parents. So, she started an online campaign to change the rating to PG-13.

Butler says she has gained strength from the experience. "It takes courage to tell my story in front of the whole world," she said.

She says she was attending another school when she revealed she is a lesbian. Students called her names and roughed her up physically.