The Top 12 NC-17 Films, Ranked by Domestic Box Office Revenue

      Here are the top 12 NC-17 films of all time, ranked according to their domestic box office earnings.

      The NC-17 rating was introduced to acknowledge that many films featuring adult content also possess artistic value.

      However, this rating still carries a stigma in various circles, as evidenced by the fact that no NC-17 film has ever made more than $37 million at the U.S. box office.

      Before diving into the list, here is some context on NC-17 films:

      Eva Green in The Dreamers. Fox Searchlight Pictures – Credit: Fox Searchlight

      The first film to receive an "X" rating was Brian DePalma's 1968 movie Greetings, featuring a young Robert De Niro, which was considered too explicit for an R rating. A year later, United Artists released Midnight Cowboy with an X rating to avoid a confrontation with the Motion Picture Association. This film went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and some could argue it gained extra attention because of the provocative X rating.

      For a time, an X rating seemed to confer a sense of respectability on films. However, it soon became associated primarily with adult content, damaging its reputation and diminishing the chances of mainstream acceptance for such films.

      At the end of the '80s and the beginning of the '90s—a period known for pushing the envelope in films like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover—the Motion Picture Association realized the need for a new rating that wouldn’t carry the stigma of the X rating.

      Thus, the NC-17 rating was introduced, signaling that a film was eligible for a mainstream release but was strictly unsuitable for viewers under 17. Unlike R-rated films, which allow children if accompanied by an adult, NC-17 films are intended exclusively for adults.

      Nonetheless, this rating has not significantly helped these films achieve high box-office success, as shown in this list of the highest-grossing NC-17 films ever.

      **The Dreamers (2003)**

      Fox Searchlight Pictures

      This film follows an American university student (Michael Pitt) in Paris who encounters a peculiar brother and sister, leading to a love triangle. With many nods to French New Wave cinema and a fair amount of explicit content, it is best remembered as the film that launched Eva Green’s career. She later shared with The Guardian that viewing the rough cut left her "quite shocked," feeling as though she was donning a costume during filming.

      Fox Searchlight Pictures released it uncut with an NC-17 rating, showing it in just 116 theaters, resulting in a total box office of $2.5 million and $24 million globally.

      Interestingly, the film's director, Bernardo Bertolucci, also helmed the top film on this list.

      **Crash (1996)**

      New Line Cinema

      Renowned for transgressing boundaries, David Cronenberg did just that with the cult classic Crash, which should not be confused with the Best Picture recipient of the same name.

      Led by James Spader, who frequently starred in daring films starting with Sex, Lies, and Videotape, this movie, based on a 1973 J.G. Ballard novel, tells the story of a film producer whose life changes after a car crash leads him to a group of symphorophiliacs—individuals whose arousal stems from disasters, in this instance, mainly car wrecks.

      The film garnered a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival but repulsed some viewers with its candid exploration of the subject. It grossed a total of $2.6 million.

      All financial data is sourced from BoxOfficeMojo.

      **Happiness (1998)**

      Good Machine Releasing

      A challenging film, Todd Solondz's Happiness followed his relatively mild Welcome to the Dollhouse, a film that no one would label as “mild.”

      The most disturbing storyline features a largely unapologetic child predator, portrayed by Dylan Baker, and the impact of his heinous actions on his son.

      The film brought in just under $3 million in total.

      **Shame (2011)**

      Fox Searchlight Pictures

      Directed by Steve McQueen, who later won the Best Picture Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, Shame tells the story of a sex addict, played by regular McQueen collaborator Michael Fassbender. Carey Mulligan plays his sister, from whom he attempts to conceal his addiction. The mood is relentless and unsettling.

      Shame earned $19 million and is the most recent film on this list, indicating how far filmmakers now go to avoid releasing NC-17 rated films.

      **Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)**

      Lauren Films

      This film perfectly exemplifies the kind of storytelling that led to the creation of the NC-17 rating and is the first of two Pedro Almodóvar films featured on this list.

      Tie Me Up! Tie