How long before a film's release will it receive its certificate or rating?

Question

As per the title, I've been researching a film which is released in about 4 weeks but doesn't seem to have received it's rating/certificate from the BBFC yet. (although several of its trailers have been rated). The film is already advertised, and our local multiplex has listed as "certificate TBC", although showtimes are not yet listed.

How long before the release of a film will it typically be rated? What it the shortest or longest possible time before release a film will get its certificate? Does this vary much from country to country (I'm in the UK, so interested in the BBFC, but does it vary much in other countries?).

PS - I've deliberately not mentioned the name of the film, to keep this question about the process of certification, not about the release date of any specific film.

Answer 1

I can post a guess, based on https://www.bbfc.co.uk/industry-services/additional-information/pre-booking-express & other pages there, which would be that they wait as long as possible to ensure they have the absolute, very definitely, final cut before submitting - because it costs to have to re-submit. A booking can pretty much be done the day before the viewing, so I don't get the impression it's a 'busy queue' that is the determining factor.