Summary

  • Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's R-rated movie, is proving that R-rated films can be as successful as PG-13 productions, surpassing titles in Nolan's career.
  • Oppenheimer has entered the highest-grossing R-rated movie top 10, overtaking Fifty Shades of Grey, with the potential to beat The Hangover Part II.
  • The film is also now at the fifth place on Christopher Nolan's highest-grossing films top 5, leaving Dunkirk behind, but it faces a challenge to beat Interstellar's gross.

Oppenheimer is becoming one of the biggest hits of the year. Although Christopher Nolan's movie may be the weaker half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, the biopic of the father of the atomic bomb is proving that R-Rated films can be as successful as many PG-13 productions.

Oppenheimer is the first R-rated movie from Nolan's filmography since Insomnia from 2002, but it has managed to surpass many titles from the director's career, like becoming the highest-grossing War World II movie, pushing Dunkirk to the second place and all-time classic Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan to the third spot. And now, the film has reach another milestone.

According to a recent report from Collider, the movie led by Cillian Murphy has dethroned Fifty Shades of Grey and entered the highest-grossing R-rated movie top 10. The adaptation of the first novel from the saga written by E. L. James has been at the last spot of the list since 2015, with a total grossing of $570 million dollars.

Oppenheimer could still beat the next film on the list, The Hangover Part II ($586 million), but is still far from the eight place, which is occupied by Logan ($614 million). The rest of the top includes The Passion of the Christ ($622 million), Detective Chinatown 3 ($699 million), It ($701 million), The Matrix Reloaded ($738 million), Deadpool ($781 million), Deadool 2 ($786 million), and Joker ($1.06 billion).

Related: Oppenheimer: 13 Surprising Supporting Actors You Didn’t Realize Were in the Movie

Oppenheimer Also Breaks Into Christopher Nolan's Top 5

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
Universal Pictures 

Universal Pictures' hit has not only entered into the highest-grossing R-rated movies top 10, is also now at the fifth place on Christopher Nolan's highest-grossing films top 5 after leaving Dunkirk behind. But, could it beat the fourth place?

Right now, Interstellar is occupying the fourth spot on Nolan's most successful movies, with a total gross of $773 million dollars, so it would be difficult for Oppenheimer to beat that number in the next couple of weeks. The list is completed by Inception with $870 million, The Dark Knight with $1006 billion dollars and The Dark Knight Rises with $1081 billions.

Oppenheimer had a budget of $100 - $120 million dollars, which means the movie is already a huge smash and still has a long way to go on theaters to keep earning money. Besides Murphy, the movie stars Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Hartnett, Benny Safdie, Matt Damon, Kenneth Branagh, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Gary Oldman, Devon Bostick, Alex Wolff, and Alden Ehrenreich among many other major stars.

The story is based on American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a book published in 2015 and written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, which dives deep into Robert J. Oppenheimer's story and his role in the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb.