Box Office: 'Uncut Gems' Joins List of Top-Grossing Movies With the Most F-Bombs

Adam Sandler stars in the indie hit, which features the use of the expletive some 500 times.

Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems is shining bright at the U.S. box office for more reasons than one.

In less than two weeks in release, the indie crime-thriller has joined the list of the top-grossing movies with the most F-bombs, a rarefied group that also includes Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, the 2013 pic that made headlines for featuring the expletive 569 times. Uncut Gems' count is roughly 500.

The Adam Sandler starrer has exceeded expectations since debuting nationwide on Christmas Day. The R-rated indie pic opened to $20 million over the long five-day holiday weekend (Dec. 25-29), the top launch ever for specialty distributor A24 and well ahead of what tracking had projected.

The film — marking a big-screen comeback for Sandler — tells the frenetic story of a New York jeweler and gambling addict who must track down an expensive gem in order to pay off his debts. Kevin Garnett, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Mike Francesa, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosian also star.

Over the Jan. 3-5 weekend, Uncut Gems took in another $7.8 million for a domestic cume of $36.8 million on its way to becoming the top-grossing release in the history of A24. The current crown holder is the 2017 awards darling Lady Bird ($49 million).

Initially playing best to moviegoers 35 and younger, Uncut Gems has broadened its reach in recent days. The highest-grossing theaters range from the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn to the Harkins Camelview in Phoenix, a haven for retirees.

"Over the holidays, we built an audience that spanned a wide age group," says Heath Shapiro, distribution chief for A24. "It's Adam Sandler in a performance you've never seen him in before, with an exciting ensemble cast."

The Wolf of Wall Street, which earned $116.9 million domestically, and Uncut Gems are the only two major releases to feature 500 or more uses of the word 'fuck,' according to Wikipedia. The 2014 Canadian comedy Swearnet: The Movie (935 times) and the 2005 documentary Fuck (857 times) were never released broadly in cinemas.

Scorsese is fond of the word. His 1995 movie Casino (422 uses of 'fuck') earned $42.5 million in North America, while 1990's Goodfellas (300 times) grossed $46.8 million, not adjusted for inflation. However, the director's latest film, The Irishman, made for Netflix, has a far lower count.

F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton (2015), which featured the word some 400 times, earned $161.2 million domestically, while David Ayer's 2012 crime thriller End of Watch, which grossed $41 million domestically, is also high up on the list for F-bombs (326 times).

Other films laden with the expletive did far less box office business, including the 2006 specialty pic Alpha Dog ($15.3 million) or 2006's Running Scared ($6.9 million).