Joker is box office’s R-rated king, Deadpool’s star says

Deadpool’s star has called the race: Joker is the top-grossing R-rated movie of all time, a title Ryan Reynolds conceded with an R-rated tweet on Friday.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Joker had pulled $788.1 million globally headed into today, and most expect the supervillain biopic to cross $800 million by the end of the weekend. Deadpool took in $783 million in 2016, a surprise showing for both a superhero flick and an R-rated feature.

Deadpool went on to earn two Golden Globe nominations, setting up Reynolds’ labor of love for Oscar consideration at the time (though the film was not nominated). Joker picked up a Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival, which portends good things for the movie heading into awards season.

The runners-up in the R-rated race are 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded, at $783.6 million, It from 2017 at $697 million, and 2003’s The Passion of the Christ with $622.3 million. Reynolds’ vulgar poster also name-checks Logan, The Hangover, Fifty Shades of Grey and Ted as the biggest moneymakers with an ask-your-mom rating.

Joker sprinted out to a $96.2 million opening weekend at the beginning of the month, setting a debut record for October premieres but still short of Deadpool’s $132 million for best R-rated opening of all time.