Throughout movie history, some of the best-known comedies have gotten their laughs by crossing the line. These films relied on gags that are not suitable for all audiences – cartoonish violence, drug use, and emphatic swear words, just to name a few. Some may even number among the funniest American movies of all time.
While hilarious, these adult situations earned the movies an R (restricted) rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, which uses letter grades to determine how appropriate a film would be for kids.
To determine the highest-grossing R-rated comedies 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on inflatrion-adjusted box office earnings for comedy movies rated “R” by the Motion Picture Association from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services. User ratings come from IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon. Audience and Tomatometer scores are from Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. Cast information and year of production came from IMDb.
Though the comedies on our list were not family friendly, they still sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tickets when adjusted to 2022 dollars. (These are the best R-rated movies ever made.)
That said, R-rated comedies seem to be falling out of fashion. Of the 10 highest-grossing films on this list, nine were released before 1990. This may be due in part to the MPAA’s PG-13 rating, which was established in 1984. The rating, suggesting parental guidance for those under 13, allows films to be at least a little edgy while permitting teenagers to buy tickets for themselves. (R-rated films require adult supervision for those under 17 years old.)
50. Cocktail (1988)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $174 million
> IMDb user rating: 5.9 (82,226 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 7% (44 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (107,110 reviews)
> Cast: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue, Lisa Banes
49. Ruthless People (1986)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $177 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (27,061 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (42 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (21,109 reviews)
> Cast: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
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48. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $179 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.4 (102,053 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (44 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (113,557 reviews)
> Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid
47. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $180 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (391,048 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (222 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (1,205,243 reviews)
> Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell, Pamela Anderson
46. The Heat (2013)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $180 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.6 (166,574 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 66% (183 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (166,950 reviews)
> Cast: Sandra Bullock, Michael McDonald, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir
45. American Pie (1999)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $184 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.0 (389,557 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 61% (129 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 61% (33,781,574 reviews)
> Cast: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jennifer Coolidge
44. Risky Business (1983)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $185 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (84,978 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (49 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (71,267 reviews)
> Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur
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43. The War of the Roses (1989)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $192 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (50,706 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (40 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (40,840 reviews)
> Cast: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Marianne Sägebrecht
42. Analyze This (1999)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $193 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.7 (149,447 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 69% (107 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62% (224,645 reviews)
> Cast: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Chazz Palminteri
41. Sex and the City (2008)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $195 million
> IMDb user rating: 5.6 (118,651 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 49% (183 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (463,935 reviews)
> Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis
40. The Blues Brothers (1980)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $195 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.9 (190,151 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 73% (90 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (256,099 reviews)
> Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway, John Candy
39. Bridesmaids (2011)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $195 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (280,002 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (293 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (161,908 reviews)
> Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Terry Crews
38. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $196 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (219,028 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (141 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (227,053 reviews)
> Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
37. Knocked Up (2007)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $198 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (358,939 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (252 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (2,085,028 reviews)
> Cast: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann
36. Bad Boys for Life (2020)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $204 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.6 (143,867 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (263 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (42,999 reviews)
> Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig
35. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $206 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (6,428 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (19 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 65% (1,690 reviews)
> Cast: Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon
34. The Longest Yard (1974)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $208 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (18,055 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (34 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (81,360 reviews)
> Cast: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
33. Bad Boys II (2003)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $210 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.6 (239,799 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 23% (185 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (502,048 reviews)
> Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà
32. When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $213 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.6 (205,660 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (74 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (396,152 reviews)
> Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
31. 22 Jump Street (2014)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $215 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.0 (358,056 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (223 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (170,590 reviews)
> Cast: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube, Nick Offerman
29. Police Academy (1984)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $221 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.7 (119,720 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 55% (29 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 64% (194,619 reviews)
> Cast: Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith
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28. Shampoo (1975)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $223 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.4 (12,075 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 62% (37 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 53% (6,509 reviews)
> Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Lee Grant
27. American Pie 2 (2001)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $235 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.4 (246,965 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 52% (127 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (955,022 reviews)
> Cast: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan
26. 48 Hrs. (1982)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $237 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (74,193 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (45 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 69% (75,177 reviews)
> Cast: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O’Toole, Frank McRae
25. Private Benjamin (1980)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $238 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 (24,977 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (33 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 60% (35,951 reviews)
> Cast: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber
24. Ted (2012)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $252 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (586,245 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 69% (221 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (375,477 reviews)
> Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Joel McHale
23. The Birdcage (1996)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $257 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (84,589 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (52 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (105,065 reviews)
> Cast: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
22. Trading Places (1983)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $263 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (143,204 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (49 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (87,774 reviews)
> Cast: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
21. Scary Movie (2000)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $267 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 (242,107 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 52% (117 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 43% (32,582,014 reviews)
> Cast: Anna Faris, Jon Abrahams, Marlon Wayans, Carmen Electra
20. The Jerk (1979)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $273 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 (55,329 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (41 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (56,863 reviews)
> Cast: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
19. Stripes (1981)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $281 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (69,047 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (40 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (53,123 reviews)
> Cast: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates
18. Coming to America (1988)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $286 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (198,841 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 72% (54 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (268,450 reviews)
> Cast: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
17. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $290 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (132,985 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (42 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (131,515 reviews)
> Cast: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tom. T. Tran, Chintara Sukapatana
16. The Hangover Part II (2011)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $294 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.5 (477,678 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 34% (249 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 52% (196,354 reviews)
> Cast: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha
15. Wedding Crashers (2005)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $299 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.9 (341,846 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (188 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70% (32,961,772 reviews)
> Cast: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Walken
14. Jerry Maguire (1996)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $319 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (252,443 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (87 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (442,557 reviews)
> Cast: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, Kelly Preston
13. Deadpool 2 (2018)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $326 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (517,779 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (420 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (32,213 reviews)
> Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison
12. True Lies (1994)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $328 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.2 (247,499 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 71% (52 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (265,920 reviews)
> Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton
11. The Hangover (2009)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $339 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (742,607 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (241 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (943,368 reviews)
> Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms
10. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $345 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.1 (300,719 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (84 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 61% (33,121,539 reviews)
> Cast: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans
9. Stir Crazy (1980)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $345 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.8 (26,823 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 67% (15 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (20,036 reviews)
> Cast: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
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8. Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $360 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.5 (114,253 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 47% (32 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 57% (276,282 reviews)
> Cast: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox
7. Porky’s (1981)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $361 million
> IMDb user rating: 6.2 (40,656 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 35% (37 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 57% (59,777 reviews)
> Cast: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson
6. Deadpool (2016)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $384 million
> IMDb user rating: 8.0 (948,399 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (349 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (188,078 reviews)
> Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein
5. Pretty Woman (1990)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $387 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.0 (304,022 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 64% (69 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 68% (32,709,375 reviews)
> Cast: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander, Laura San Giacomo
4. MASH (1970)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $453 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (70,096 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (55 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (53,188 reviews)
> Cast: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman
3. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $554 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.5 (116,311 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (52 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (185,688 reviews)
> Cast: John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst
2. Blazing Saddles (1974)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $579 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.7 (131,541 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (59 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (218,474 reviews)
> Cast: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
1. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
> Domestic box office, inflation-adjusted $640 million
> IMDb user rating: 7.3 (174,081 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (53 reviews)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (377,753 reviews)
> Cast: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher
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