‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ Breaks F-Bomb Record

The Wolf of Wall Street directed by Martin Scorsese reportedly has set an all-time record for the number of F-bombs dropped in the dialogue.

The film, which opened on Christmas Day, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort. Based on the true story of Belfort, the film attempts to capture his illegal dealings as a New York stockbroker who made his way to the top as he rode to fame on sex, drugs, booze, and women, and of course, his inevitable downfall. The Wolf of Wall Street also stars Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, and Margot Robbie.

Director Scorsese agreed to cut some racy scenes so that the film could be rated R rather than NC-17.

Evidently plenty of F-bombs were left in the theatrical release, however, and enough to establish a new record: “According to Wikipedia, the word ‘f***’ is used 506 times over The Wolf of Wall Street‘s 180-minute running time. Previously, the record for a non-documentary was Spike Lee’s 1999 film Summer of Sam with 435 instances.”

Going into this weekend, the film has made about $47 million at the box office so far, but has received mixed reviews and a so-so audience reaction.

DiCaprio summarized for Deadline Hollywood what he and the director had in mind with The Wolf of Wall Street: “… we very consciously wanted this to be an analysis of the temptation and intoxication of the world of money and indulgence and hedonism. We wanted to take the audience on that journey, and so we don’t ever see the wake of that destruction until the very end, where they implode. It was a very conscious decision on our part, so the experience would be almost like taking a drug.”

Apparently The Wolf of Wall Street audience journey includes a lot of F-bombs. It’s all in the context, of course, but movies (or even acclaimed TV shows like The Sopranos) sometimes can get very tedious rather than edgy with the gratuitious use of profanity.