Highest Grossing NC-17 Rated Films
by Dibyayan_Chakravorty | created - 29 May 2015 | updated - 29 May 2015 | PublicAs of May 2015, which of these 30 highest grossing (lifetime domestic gross) NC-17 rated films is your favorite?
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Source: Box Office Mojo
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1. Showgirls (1995)
NC-17 | 128 min | Drama
A mysterious young drifter who calls herself Nomi Malone hitches a ride to Las Vegas, Nevada, and begins working as a strip club dancer, and sets about clawing her way to the top of the Vegas showgirls.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer
Votes: 74,312 | Gross: $20.30M
$20,350,754
2. Henry & June (1990)
NC-17 | 136 min | Biography, Drama
Anaïs Nin meets American writer Henry Miller in Paris in 1931. She keeps a diary of her sexual awakening, which includes Henry and his wife June.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant
Votes: 14,148 | Gross: $11.57M
$11,567,449
3. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
NC-17 | 124 min | Crime, Drama
At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard
Votes: 41,554 | Gross: $7.72M
$7,724,701
4. Bad Education (2004)
NC-17 | 106 min | Crime, Drama
An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Javier Cámara, Daniel Giménez Cacho
Votes: 63,303 | Gross: $5.21M
$5,211,842
5. Lust, Caution (2007)
NC-17 | 157 min | Drama, History, Romance
During World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Leehom Wang
Votes: 45,349 | Gross: $4.60M
$4,604,982
6. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
NC-17 | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An unbalanced but alluring former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Loles León, Julieta Serrano
Votes: 31,802 | Gross: $4.09M
$4,087,361
7. Shame (2011)
NC-17 | 101 min | Drama
A sex addict's carefully cultivated private life falls apart after his sister arrives for an indefinite stay.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Lucy Walters
Votes: 205,785 | Gross: $4.00M
$3,909,002
8. The Dreamers (2003)
NC-17 | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel, Eva Green, Anna Chancellor
Votes: 131,086 | Gross: $2.53M
$2,532,228
9. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
NC-17 | 180 min | Drama, Romance
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche | Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing
Votes: 162,609 | Gross: $2.20M
$2,199,787
10. Crash (1996)
NC-17 | 100 min | Drama
After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger
Votes: 66,103 | Gross: $2.04M
$2,038,450
11. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
NC-17 | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Brian McElroy, Frank Acciarito, Peggy Gormley
Votes: 47,606 | Gross: $2.00M
$2,000,022
12. Killer Joe (2011)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church
Votes: 83,118 | Gross: $1.99M
$1,987,762
13. Wide Sargasso Sea (1993)
NC-17 | 99 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A young female landowner in 1840s Jamaica marries a just-arrived Englishman to avoid losing her property. All seems to be perfect, love arises, and happiness is on the way, but she is ... See full summary »
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Karina Lombard, Nathaniel Parker, Rachel Ward, Michael York
Votes: 2,197 | Gross: $1.61M
$1,614,784
14. A Dirty Shame (2004)
NC-17 | 89 min | Comedy
An uptight, middle-aged, repressed woman turns into a sex addict after getting hit on the head, and she then falls into an underground subculture of sex addicts in suburban Baltimore.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Tracey Ullman, Chris Isaak, Selma Blair, Johnny Knoxville
Votes: 13,522 | Gross: $1.34M
$1,339,668
15. Whore (1991)
NC-17 | 85 min | Drama
A night in the life of a cynical prostitute forms the basis of Ken Russell's portrait of the world's oldest profession.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Theresa Russell, Benjamin Mouton, Antonio Fargas, Elizabeth Morehead
Votes: 4,309 | Gross: $1.01M
$1,008,404
16. Poison (1991)
R | 85 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
A boy shoots his father and flies out the window. A man falls in love with a fellow inmate in prison. A doctor accidentally ingests his experimental sex serum, wreaking havoc on the community.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Edith Meeks, Larry Maxwell, Susan Norman, Millie White
Votes: 5,016 | Gross: $0.61M
$787,280
17. Young Adam (2003)
NC-17 | 98 min | Crime, Drama
A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer
Votes: 14,643 | Gross: $0.77M
$767,373
18. Mysterious Skin (2004)
Unrated | 105 min | Drama
Two pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: Brady Corbet, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue, Chase Ellison
Votes: 76,039 | Gross: $0.70M
$713,240
19. Inside Deep Throat (2005)
NC-17 | 89 min | Documentary, Biography, History
An examination of the infamous pornographic film Deep Throat (1972), covering aspects from the film's creation to its cultural impact.
Directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato | Stars: Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems, Dennis Hopper, Gerard Damiano
Votes: 7,027 | Gross: $0.65M
$691,880
20. Dice Rules (1991)
NC-17 | 88 min | Documentary, Comedy
Outrageous, misogynistic and vulgar-to-the-max comedian Andrew Dice Clay does his stuff in this combination of a stand-up concert video, in a filled-to-capacity performance at Madison Square Gardens, and a series of comedy sketches.
Director: Jay Dubin | Stars: Andrew Dice Clay, Eddie Griffin, Sylvia Harman, Lee Lawrence
Votes: 661 | Gross: $0.64M
$637,327
21. Orgazmo (1997)
NC-17 | 94 min | Comedy
Naive young Mormon Joe Young is recruited to act in porn movies.
Director: Trey Parker | Stars: Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne Raab, Michael Dean Jacobs
Votes: 37,985 | Gross: $0.58M
$602,302
22. Bent (1997)
NC-17 | 105 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 1930s Berlin, a gay Jew is sent to a concentration camp under the Nazi regime.
Director: Sean Mathias | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Clive Owen, Mick Jagger, Brian Webber
Votes: 8,791 | Gross: $0.37M
$496,059
23. Tokyo Decadence (1992)
NC-17 | 112 min | Drama
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of ... See full summary »
Director: Ryû Murakami | Stars: Miho Nikaido, Yayoi Kusama, Sayoko Amano, Tenmei Kano
Votes: 3,572 | Gross: $0.28M
$277,845
24. Matador (1986)
NC-17 | 110 min | Drama, Thriller
A matador is wounded by a bull and can no longer kill in the arena. It is just one of the problems of one of the characters that unexpectedly collide in this film.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo
Votes: 12,907 | Gross: $0.21M
$206,952
25. Man Bites Dog (1992)
NC-17 | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
Directors: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde | Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Hector Pappaert
Votes: 43,607 | Gross: $0.21M
$205,569
26. Elles (2011)
NC-17 | 99 min | Drama
On her latest assignment, a journalist for Elle immerses herself in a prostitution ring run by university students.
Director: Malgorzata Szumowska | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Anaïs Demoustier, Joanna Kulig, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing
Votes: 7,541 | Gross: $0.16M
$157,508
27. Ma mère (2004)
NC-17 | 110 min | Drama, Romance
When his father dies, a young man is introduced by his attractive, amoral mother to a world of hedonism and depravity.
Director: Christophe Honoré | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Louis Garrel, Emma de Caunes, Joana Preiss
Votes: 7,571 | Gross: $0.07M
$71,616
28. Delta of Venus (1995)
R | 102 min | Drama
A struggling American writer (England) and a fellow American expatriate (Mandylor) begin a sordid affair among the chaos and discord of 1940 Paris, France on the brink of World War II.
Director: Zalman King | Stars: Audie England, Costas Mandylor, Eric da Silva, Raven Snow
Votes: 2,355 | Gross: $0.06M
$63,174
29. Paris, France (1993)
NC-17 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Lucy (Leslie Hope), her husband Michael (Victor Ertmanis), and their business partner William (Dan Left) are the owners of a small publishing company in Toronto. The stability of their ... See full summary »
Director: Jerry Ciccoritti | Stars: Leslie Hope, Peter Outerbridge, Victor Ertmanis, Dan Lett
Votes: 541
$44,159
30. Descent (2007)
R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
A college co-ed is brutally raped and struggles alone to rebuild her life.
Director: Talia Lugacy | Stars: Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick, Vanessa Ferlito
Votes: 3,261 | Gross: $0.13M
$15,233
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