Highest-grossing R-rated movies in the U.S. & Canada 2024
As of October 2024, "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024) ranked as the all-time highest-grossing R-rated movie in the United States and Canada. The film generated more than 635 million U.S. dollars at the so-called North American box office. "The Passion of the Christ" (2004) and the first "Deadpool" (2016) followed with domestic revenues of around 371 million and 363 million dollars, respectively. "R" stands for "restricted". It means that, according to the Motion Picture Association (MPA), viewers under the age of 17 could watch the film only if accompanied by their parent or adult guardian. When it comes to PG-13-rated movies in the U.S. and Canada – which are films containing "[s]ome material [that] may be inappropriate for children under 13" – "Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens" (2015) ranked first.
The Rs in Warner
Half of the top 10 R-rated films were produced by Warner Bros.: "American Sniper", "Joker" (2019), "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003), "The Hangover" (2009), and "The Hangover Part II" (2011). The studio saw its box office revenue decrease for three consecutive years before bouncing back in 2021. As of 2023, the figure added up to 1.4 billion dollars. That value is still inferior to the more than two billion dollars the studio recorded in 2017. Still, Warner Bros. box office market share stood at 15.79 percent in 2023, its peak since 2017, partly driven by the success of 2023's "Barbie".
A twist in a trope with a twisted hero
"Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024), the latest installment in the Deadpool franchise, became the highest grossing Deadpool movie less than two weeks after its release in theaters. These films rely on a genre Hollywood has explored for the sake of its bankability: superhero movies. Yet, Deadpool goes the extra mile by adding chaotic, openly nonsensical attributes to the trope. Once hugely popular, superhero movies currently have difficulties reaching pre-pandemic heights. Throughout 2023, they collectively grossed about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars domestically - one billion less than the previous year.
