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The Highest Grossing R-Rated Movies of the 1970s

The Highest Grossing R-Rated Movies of the 1970s

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Until 1968, R-rated movies didn’t exist. The movie rating system we know today hadn’t been developed. Instead, production companies followed the Motion Picture Production Code (the Hays Code) from the 1930s until 1968. It was named after the Motion Pictures Distributors Association of America’s President William Hays.

The Hays Code required filmmakers to follow specific moral codes to prevent anything considered ungodly, perverse, or profane from being released. Instead of parents deciding what their children and teens could and couldn’t see, the movie industry decided for people.

Why the change? In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that motion pictures were a form of expression. That gave the filmmakers First Amendment rights when it came to formerly prohibited movie codes, such as profanity or revealing outfits. The new MPAA president came up with movie ratings using:

G – General audience
M (later PG) – Mature/parental guidance
R – Restricted
X – Adult only

Since the new movie ratings came out, movies have been given a rating that helps parents decide if a movie is appropriate. PG-13 was added in 1984 to separate PG movies that were more appropriate for teens than children. NC-17 replaced X in 1990 for movies that anyone 17 or under could not see in a theater.

With all modern movies undergoing this rating system, there were thousands of movies released before 1968 that were unrated. You might find some movies that still are labeled “unrated.” Other movies have been watched again and issued a rating. Our list of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of the 1970s features several movies that came out after the rating system changed. Others have received an updated rating. (For R-rated movies from a different decade, check out The Best R-Rated Movies of the 1960s.)

Here is the list of the best R-rated movies of the 1970s. 

30. All That Jazz

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $37,823,676
  • Director: Bob Fosse
  • Starring: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking
  • Genre: Musical

29. Starting Over

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $38,200,000
  • Director: Alan J. Pakula
  • Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen
  • Genre: Rom-Com

28. Manhattan

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • Domestic box office: $39,946,780
  • Director: Woody Allen
  • Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway
  • Genre: Comedy

27. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $40,420,000
  • Director: Jim Sharman
  • Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
  • Genre: Comedy

26. The French Connection

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $41,158,757
  • Director: William Friedkin
  • Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
  • Genre: Drama

25. Three Days of the Condor

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $41,509,797
  • Director: Sydney Pollack
  • Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson
  • Genre: Mystery

24. Up in Smoke

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $41,590,893
  • Director: Lou Adler, Tommy Chong
  • Starring: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin
  • Genre: Comedy

23. The Longest Yard

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $43,008,075
  • Director: Robert Aldrich
  • Starring: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter
  • Genre: Comedy

22. Magnum Force

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $44,680,473
  • Director: Ted Post
  • Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Mitchell Ryan
  • Genre: Action

21. Deliverance

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $46,122,355
  • Director: John Boorman
  • Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty
  • Genre: Adventure

20. The Enforcer

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $46,200,000
  • Director: James Fargo
  • Starring: Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino
  • Genre: Action

19. Dog Day Afternoon

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $46,665,856
  • Director: Sidney Lumet
  • Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen
  • Genre: Drama

18. Halloween

Source: Courtesy of Aquarius Releasing

Source: Courtesy of Aquarius Releasing
  • Domestic box office: $47,274,000
  • Director: John Carpenter
  • Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
  • Genre: Horror

17. The Omen

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $48,570,885
  • Director: Richard Donner
  • Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens
  • Genre: Horror

16. Shampoo

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $49,407,734
  • Director: Hal Ashby
  • Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn
  • Genre: Comedy

15. The Deer Hunter

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $50,000,000
  • Director: Michael Cimino
  • Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale
  • Genre: Drama

14. 10

Source: Courtesy of Orion Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Orion Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $52,134,699
  • Director: Blake Edwards
  • Starring: Dudley Moore, Bo Derek, Julie Andrews
  • Genre: Rom-Com

13. The Godfather: Part II

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $57,300,000
  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall
  • Genre: Crime, Drama

12. Alien

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $62,005,728
  • Director: Ridley Scott
  • Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
  • Genre: Sci-Fi

11. A Star is Born

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $63,129,898
  • Director: Frank Pierson
  • Starring: Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey
  • Genre: Drama

10. The Jerk

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $73,691,419
  • Director: Carl Reiner
  • Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams
  • Genre: Comedy

9. M*A*S*H

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Domestic box office: $81,600,000
  • Director: Robert Altman
  • Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt
  • Genre: War, Comedy

8. Apocalypse Now

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • Domestic box office: $83,535,860
  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
  • Genre: War

7. The Amityville Horror

Source: Courtesy of American International Pictures

Source: Courtesy of American International Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $86,432,520
  • Director: Stuart Rosenberg
  • Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
  • Genre: Horror

6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • Domestic box office: $108,981,275
  • Director: Milos Forman
  • Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman
  • Genre: Drama

5. Blazing Saddles

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $119,500,000
  • Director: Mel Brooks
  • Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens
  • Genre: Comedy, Western

4. The Godfather

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $136,479,994
  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
  • Genre: Crime, Drama

3. Saturday Night Fever

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $139,486,124
  • Director: John Badham
  • Starring: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller
  • Genre: Drama

2. National Lampoon’s Animal House

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
  • Domestic box office: $141,600,000
  • Director: John Landis
  • Starring: John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tom Hulce
  • Genre: Comedy

1. The Exorcist

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Domestic box office: $230,956,951
  • Director: William Friedkin
  • Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
  • Genre: Horror
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