Claim: Scorsese's highest-grossing movie is The Wolf of Wall Street.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy crime film directed by Martin Scorsese . The screenplay by Terence Winter is adapted from the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort and recounts Belfort 's perspective on his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall . Leonardo DiCaprio -LRB- who also co-produced the film -RRB- stars as Belfort , with Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff , Margot Robbie as his second wife Naomi Lapaglia and Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham , the FBI agent who tries to bring him down . Matthew McConaughey , Rob Reiner , Jon Favreau , Joanna Lumley and Jean Dujardin are also featured . The film marks the director 's fifth collaboration with DiCaprio , after Gangs of New York -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , The Aviator -LRB- 2004 -RRB- , The Departed -LRB- 2006 -RRB- and Shutter Island -LRB- 2010 -RRB- , as well as his second collaboration with Winter after the television series Boardwalk Empire -LRB- 2010 -- 14 -RRB- .   The Wolf of Wall Street premiered in New York City on December 17 , 2013 and was released theatrically on December 25 , 2013 in the United States , distributed by Paramount Pictures . The film was the first to be released entirely through digital distribution . It was a major commercial success , grossing more than $ 392 million worldwide during its original theatrical run to become Scorsese 's highest-grossing movie and the 17th-highest-grossing film of 2013 . The film was controversial for its morally ambiguous depiction of events , explicit sexual content , profanity , depiction of hard drug use and the use of animals during production . The film also caused controversy due to revelations that it was financed by illegally obtained funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad -LRB- 1MDB -RRB- .   The film received mostly positive reviews from critics , with praise for Scorsese 's direction , the comedic performance of DiCaprio and the fast-paced and consistent humor . The film was nominated for several awards including five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony : Best Picture , Best Director for Scorsese , Best Writing -LRB- Adapted Screenplay -RRB- for Winter and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations for DiCaprio and Hill , respectively . The film did not win in any category , although DiCaprio did win Best Actor -- Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 71st Golden Globe Awards , where the film was also nominated for Best Picture -- Musical or Comedy . It was also recognized by numerous other awards ceremonies , as well as guilds and critics ' associations .   The word `` fuck '' and its numerous conjugations are said between 506 and 569 times , making this the film with the most uses of the word in a mainstream , non-documentary film .