15 Highest-Grossing R-Rated Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
From Saving Private Ryan to The Sixth Sense...
An R-rating tends to be seen as killing off potential box office revenue and this is true to some extent. Looking at the highest grossing films of all time, there isn't a single R-rated film in the billion dollar club and there aren't very many among the all-time biggest box-office hits. Only 13 R-rated films have grossed over $500 million worldwide. This is, to be honest, unfortunate since many films which should've been rated R are instead given PG-13 ratings to increase box office chances.
Still, there are some R-rated films which manage to defy the odds and set the box office on fire. The most successful of these are a wildly varied bunch; they include big Awards Season movies, high-profile sequels, sleeper hits and also some of those rare films where studios took the risk with an R-rating and it paid off.
If nothing else, these movies prove that the R-rating is not the kiss of death at the box-office and that studios should be doing more R-rated flicks. But which ones deserved to beat the odds and become global box office smashes the most? Time to find out.
15. The Hangover Part II
Ranking: #8
Earnings: $586,764,305
Unfortunately, this is one of the highest-grossing R-rated films ever. Remember: high box office revenue is Never an indicator of quality and if you need proof, this is it.
The Hangover Part II is truly intolerable. It's insultingly lazy and essentially remakes the first film with nastier jokes, yet paradoxically it lacks all the first film's joy, charm, hilarity and intelligence. It's just one painfully unfunny, repulsive joke after another and the film is also so mean-spirited that it's more depressing than funny. Even the once great cast isn't that fun anymore.
The Hangover Part II is easily one of the worst global box-office smashes of all time and while it's hardly surprising that this was so successful given the first film was such a hit, that doesn't make the staggering gross of something so repulsive any less depressing. For example, a big joke is Stu having had sex with a transsexual prostitute and there's a disturbing and offensive reveal scene; that's basically the entire film. One shock-for-shock's-sake gag after another.
This is one to avoid at all costs. Anyway, if you've seen the first film you've already seen this, so it's better not to waste your time.