Joker is officially the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and the star of previous
champ Deadpool had a couple of choice words about the development.
The reliably hilarious Ryan Reynolds took to Instagram to post a mock poster for Joker
offering congrats on behalf of himself and, well, the subjects of past R-rated box office
smashes.
If you are at all familiar with Reynolds, you already have a pretty solid idea of what
to expect, and we can say with certainty that you won't be disappointed.
Reynolds tagged Joker director Todd Phillips in the image, and captioned it:
"R-Rated box office congratulatory posts aren't like the ones you're used to."
No, we should say not, and neither are congratulatory posts from Deadpool, whom we all know is A)
kind of insane and B) in no way a fictional character as long as Reynolds is breathing.
There are superhero actors who embody their roles, and then there is Reynolds, who probably
sleeps in his costume and has an unhealthy relationship with his katanas.
"F***, you're old."
"HAH!
Fake laugh — hiding real pain.
Go get Silver-balls."
For those keeping score at home, the movies Reynolds refers to at the bottom of the poster
are, in order: Deadpool, The Matrix, It: Chapter One, The Passion of the Christ, Logan, The
Hangover, 50 Shades of Grey, and Ted.
"Highest-grossing R-rated movie ever" becomes the latest in a long line of superlatives
bestowed upon the Joaquin Phoenix starring Joker since its release, which already include
"biggest October opener of all time," "Golden Lion award winner," and "odds-on Oscar favorite."
Of course, since they have a slightly narrower audience, it's a little tougher for R-rated
films to do the kind of bonkers box office that, say, Marvel Studios' PG-13 offerings
often do.
No R-rated flick has ever broken the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office, but Joker
might very well be the first.
In order to even get close, it's done away with some pretty formidable competition, as
Reynolds pointed out in his uniquely smartass fashion.
That's one heck of a slate of films that Deadpool er, Reynolds, rather made reference to on
that poster.
Being huge geeks, we decided to do a little digging to see just how much box office gold
they represent.
Let's take them in chronological order, starting with the oldest flick on the list, The Matrix.
It's interesting to note that the film came out about 20 years ago, and its total of just
over $463 million was enough to hand it the R-rated crown.
It was also a bona fide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two sequels and a multimedia franchise
that includes comic books, video games, and animated shorts yet, it still couldn't crack
the half-billion barrier.
Adjusted for inflation, though, the total is closer to $700 million dollars.
Next on the list: 2004's The Passion of the Christ, which benefited from having a pretty
sizable built-in audience and which also dominated the pop culture conversation in the year of
its release.
The flick cleaned up worldwide to the tune of $610 million $829 million adjusted for
inflation and it stayed on top for a surprisingly long time.
This is because the next two on the list only earned the title of highest-grossing R-rated
comedy.
The Hangover, released in 2009, scored a $468 million worldwide gross, and it held the raunchy
comedy crown until it was bested in 2012 by Seth McFarlane's Ted, which notched a $549
million global take.
2015's Fifty Shades of Grey, while a huge hit, fell short of Passion's total by about
$40 million, making it an outlier on Reynolds' list.
We're inclined to believe that he's well aware of this, and threw it in because he wanted
to include a really popular movie with lots of steamy scenes for a laugh.
If you're unconvinced, we refer you to pretty much everything the guy has ever posted on
Twitter.
It took 12 years and the first, long-awaited solo vehicle for the Merc with a Mouth to
formally dethrone Jesus, as 2016's Deadpool smashed all kinds of records en route to a
whopping $782 million or $836 million adjusted box office total.
That film has technically worn the crown ever since, as the remaining two movies on Reynolds'
list actually failed to knock it from its perch.
2017's It: Chapter One became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time with a $700 million
take, while Logan the super-violent swan song for Reynolds' buddy Hugh Jackman's Wolverine
only managed $619 million.
Logan's inclusion on Reynolds' list was probably simply a shout-out to his friend or, given
how much the pair enjoy antagonizing each other, perhaps it was a mention of a more
passive-aggressive variety.
Logan didn't come close to matching the total of either Deadpool movie.
Whew.
OK.
Back to Joker.
"There.
All caught up."
, Joker has raked in an eye-watering $852 million globally and the flick has had some
extremely long legs.
It handily won its first two weekends, came very close to winning its next two, and its
per-weekend dropoff has been significantly less pronounced than most tentpole pictures,
including fellow Worlds of DC titles like Aquaman the only billion-dollar success for
the franchise so far.
It seems only a matter of time before Joker goes barreling past the billion dollar mark,
and it's tough to imagine that any movie will challenge it for the R-rated crown anytime
soon.
Even Deadpool 3, which is almost certainly in the works, and Matrix 4, which is definitely
in the works, seem unlikely to score that big at the box office but if the franchises
were to team up, they just might pull it off.
Don't try to tell us you know even a single person who wouldn't pay good money to see
Deadpool Breaks the Matrix.
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