Warner Bros’ Joker film has made a total of $952 million so far and that number is still growing.
It has made 15.3x its budget of $62.5 million making it the most profitable comic-book book film of all-time.
For comparison, Jim Carrey’s The Mask made $351 million on a $23 million budget and, for a more recent example, Venom made $854 million on a $90 million budget.
It still hasn’t released in China
The Joker is making a lot of money and a lot of noise but it still hasn’t debuted in China yet and it’s uncertain if it ever will.
Joker could topple Warner Bros’ own Aquaman which made $1.148 billion and China made up $300 million of that figure.
If it passes The Dark Knight‘s record, The Joker will also become the number one highest-grossing film not to debut in China.
Whilst it could still release in China, it’s on its way to breaking more records and perhaps even winning an Oscar without needing that boost.
What The Joker proves
Todd Phillips’ film proves to other studios, particularly ones producing superhero movies, that they can take risks, cut budgets and tell darker stories.
People are still flocking to the cinema with wallets in hand to splash out for the comic-book thrill-ride, even if it lacks the formula that has made franchises like the MCU as big as they are.
By the end of Sunday, November 10, The Joker will have a $312 million domestic gross. Compare that to Guardians of the Galaxy‘s $333 million gross and Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s $334 million gross.
The Joker will also outgross Suicide Squad and sell more tickets overall than Man of Steel, meaning that the clown prince of crime is more profitable than DC’s own icon – Superman.
The film also ultimately proves that old-school cinema is still popular and can still work. It is heavily based upon Martin Scorsese’s work and viewers appear to love that, based on sales and audience scores.
What does the future hold?
Phoenix said he would return with the right script and the right direction and he seemed to revel in playing the Joker.
If Phillips can come up with a good enough script to convince Phoenix to return, there is no doubt that a sequel will be on the horizon.
But what do you want to see going forward? What would you want from a sequel? What other villains deserve a ‘DC Black’ film? Let us know in the comments below!
