Who would’ve thought that the R-rated Joker movie – the very same film that director Todd Phillips deemed to be a risky venture long before release – would surpass the billion-dollar mark at the global box office? And on a $55M-$75M production budget, no less.
And yet, that’s exactly what Phillips’ Clown Prince of Crime managed to achieve three weeks ago, when Warner Bros. crunched the numbers to reveal that, yes, Joker was now sailing past $1 billion worldwide. The good news doesn’t stop there, either; today brings word that the R-rated spinoff has just surpassed Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice at the domestic box office.
The latter DC pic collected $330.3M back in 2016, whereas Joker‘s domestic tally now stands at $330.6M (h/t ComicBook.com), ensuring Zack Snyder’s event movie is safely in its rear-view mirror. A $2.03M weekend haul also propelled Joker to the 35th highest-grossing movie ever (up three spots from last weekend), as it inches closer to Aladdin at 34th. Just above those two blockbusters is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which ended its run at precisely $1.056 billion.
Joker is, of course, entering the last stretch of its theatrical run in North America, particularly now that Frozen II – another box office mega-hit waiting to happen – is occupying nearly every screen at your local theater.
Still, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix achieved something quite spectacular with Joker, so it’s small wonder why Warner Bros. executives were so keen to reunite the creative duo on a sequel. It’s now officially in the works, though how exactly Phillips and his writing team plan to continue the dark, nihilistic tale of Arthur Fleck is another question entirely.