Three of the Most Popular Movies on Disney+ Are Rated R

Disney+ isn’t just for kids. In 2021, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company’s flagship streaming service “needs more volume,” telling CNBC: “There probably needs to be more dimensionality, meaning, basically, more programming or more content for more people, different demographics.” By 2022, Disney+ had added R-rated, Fox-made Marvel movies like Deadpool and Logan, and TV-MA programming, including the former Netflix-Marvel Television series Daredevil and The Punisher. And last year, the company launched Hulu on Disney+, giving Disney Bundle subscribers access to family-friendly fare like Bluey and Moana alongside TV-MA and R-rated programming — all in the same app (with optional, pin-protected parental controls).

Topping Disney+’s top 10 chart for the first week of January is Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Marvel Studios movie to receive the R rating, which has consistently ranked among the service’s most-watched titles since its streaming debut on Nov. 12, 2024. (The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-fronted superhero action-comedy was watched 19.4 million times in its first six days, making it the most-watched live action film across Disney+ and Hulu since Marvel’s own Black Panther: Wakanda Forever became available for streaming in 2023.)

RELATED: What’s New on Disney+ in January 2025, Including Goosebumps Season 2 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

2014’s Paddington, available via Hulu, ranks second, while 2019’s The Lion King charts third as Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King reclaimed the No. 1 spot at the box office over the weekend. New series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and the animated Inside Out spinoff Dream Productions, both of which premiered their first seasons in December, round out the top five.

A five-minute Mufasa sneak peek featuring director Barry Jenkins and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda continues to trend in the top 10 at No. 6, while the new movie has also fueled a renewed interest in the 1998 animated sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride at No. 7.

2014’s John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves as the puppy-avenging hitman, is the second R-rated movie to chart on the top 10 at No. 8. The Golden Globe-nominated Nightbitch, from Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures, dropped to No. 9 in its second week. Starring Amy Adams, the R-rated black comedy was once set to go straight-to-Hulu before having a limited run in theaters in December. Another limited theatrical release, 2024’s Amber Alert, a remake of the 2012 film of the same name that stars Hayden Panetierre and Tyler James Williams, took No. 10. The PG-13 thriller was added to Hulu on Dec. 28.

More R-rated titles added to Disney+ in January 2025 by way of Hulu include 1995’s Heat, 2000’s American Psycho, as well as 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 and 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3. Meanwhile, Goosebumps: The Vanishing (rated TV-14) will stream on both Hulu and Disney+ starting Jan. 10, and Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (rated TV-Y7) swings onto Disney+ with a two-episode series premiere on Jan. 29.