UPDATED - Just for fun: How does The Hangover franchise compare with other R-rated sagas?

UPDATED with end-of summer numbers.  I mentioned last week that The Hangover series, with just two movies under its belt, is just under $100 million away from becoming the biggest R-rated franchise of all time in domestic grosses.  In case anyone wants a comparison, here is a list, best I could accumulate... An asterix (*) means that one of the titles in the series in question squeaked by with a PG-13.  Obviously, to be counted, the series has to be predominantly R-rated, so Police Academy does not count despite its initial installment indeed being rated R.  And you have to have at least one sequel, so The Passion of the Christ ($371 million all by itself) does not count either, but I will include remakes and reboots into the respective horror franchises where applicable.  And yes, for those who care, I have also included the list of said franchises with 'adjusted-for-inflation' grosses.  Enjoy...

Scott Mendelson

ACTUAL DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE 

The Matrix (3 films) -  $592 million
The Hangover (2 films) -   $531 million
The Terminator (4 films*) -   $512 million
Lethal Weapon (4 films*) -  $487 million
Die Hard (4 films*) -  $435 million
Beverly Hills Cop (3 films) -  $431 million
Hannibal Lecter series (5 films) -  $425 million
Saw (7 films) -  $415 million
Alien (6 films*) -  $389 million
Friday the 13th (12 films) -  $380 million
A Nightmare On Elm Street (9 films) -  $370 million
American Pie (3 films) -  $352 million
The Exorcist (5 films) -  $331 million
Scream (4 films) -  $331 million
Halloween (10 films) -  $308 million
Rambo (4 films) -  $292 million
Predator (5 films*) -  $264 million
The Godfather (3 films) -  $249 million
Sex and the City (2 films) -  $247 million
Resident Evil (4 films) -  $202 million
Paranormal Activity (2 films) -  $192 million
The Amityville Horror (4 films) -  $170 million
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (6 films) -  $164 million
The Omen (4 films) -  $162 million
Underworld (3 films) - $160 million
48 Hrs (2 films) -  $158 million
Under Siege (2 films) - $133 million
Child's Play (5 films) -  $126 million
Cheech and Chong... (4 films) -  $101 million
Hostel (2 films) -  $65 million
Harold and Kumar... (2 films) -  $56 million
Hellraiser (4 films) -  $48 million
Missing In Action (3 films) -  $39 million
Phantasm (2 films) - $19 million
Evil Dead (3 films) -  $19 million
American Ninja (4 films) -  $15 million

ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION

The Exorcist (5 films) -  $1.079 billion
The Godfather (3 films) -  $944 million
Beverly Hills Cop (3 films) -  $916 million 

Lethal Weapon (4 films*) -  $915 million
The Matrix (3 films) -  $813 million

The Terminator (4 films*) -  $799 million

Alien (6 films*) -  $762 million

Friday the 13th (12 films) -  $728 million

Die Hard (4 films*) -  $711 million

Hannibal Lecter series (5 films) -  $649 million

Nightmare On Elm Street (9 films) -  $619 million
Rambo (4 films) -  $608 million

Halloween (10 films) -  $587 million

The Hangover (2 films) -  $531 million
Scream (4 films) -  $517 million
American Pie (3 films) -  $496 million
Saw (7 films) -  $487 million
The Omen (4 films) -  $437 million
The Amityville Horror (4 films) -  $399 million
Predator (5 films*) -  $376 million
48 Hrs (2 films) -  $350 million
Cheech and Chong... (4 films) -  $310 million

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (6 films) -  $310 million

Sex and the City (2 films) -  $261 million
Under Siege (2 films) - $249 million

Resident Evil (4 films) -  $236 million

Child's Play (5 films) -  $219 million
Paranormal Activity (2 films) -  $194 million
Underworld (3 films) -  $192 million
Hellraiser (4 films) -  $93 million
Missing In Action (3 films) -  $88 million
Hostel (2 films) -  $77 million
Harold and Kumar... (2 films) -  $64 million
Phantasm (2 films) - $51 million
Evil Dead (3 films) -  $39 million
American Ninja (4 films) -  $33 million


As you can see, it's merely the 14th-biggest R-rated franchise when adjusted for inflation.  But as you can also see, most of the films ahead of it (and many below it) have anywhere from 4 to 12 films in their respective series.  Presuming that The Hangover 2 ends up with $250 million (an underestimate at this point), and the third film grosses just $225 million, then the whole Hangover trilogy will have amassed $750 million, it will far-and-away the biggest R-rated series in history and it will still be the eighth-biggest such franchise even adjusted for inflation.  And quite frankly, considering that there is exactly one R-rated franchise on the horizon (David Fincher's remake of the Millennium trilogy), The Hangover franchise's incredible standing among R-rated films is unlikely to change anytime soon.  Of course, looking over that list, you realize why studios are so unwilling to let their big-budget films go out with an R-rating in the first place.  

Scott Mendelson