The Joker Movie Went Wild Hits No.1 Weekend Earnings

The initial reviews weren’t jokes after all

The movie reviews and stats are in favour of Todd Philips’ Joker movie and the unsurprising marketing strategy has proven successful. And has more than earned the number one spot reeling in $93.5 million USD (AUD 138.5 M) in the opening weekend earnings.

 

Even without a premiere in China, Arthur Fleck’s, Joaquin Phoenix, transformation into notorious Gotham criminal mastermind – Joker has gained a total of $234 million USD (AUD 346.7 M) globally. The earnings overseas occurred across 70 markets and is believed to have set benchmarks of their own, while domestically the Joker movie topped last year’s Venom which brought in $80 million USD (AUD 118.5 M).

For comparison, The Dark Knight earned $158 million USD (AUD 234.1 M) for its opening weekend while Suicide Squad, which featured Jared Leto’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime, earned $133 million USD (AUD 197 M).

 

As it stands, the Joker movie is one of the best R-rated opening weekends of all time, while standing as the fifth best for 2019 in general. Stat-wise, eight percent of moviegoers were between the ages of 13-17 and 65 percent between 18-34, according to PostTrak’s exit polling service.

Besides the Joker movie, Abominable placed second with $12 million USD (AUD 17.8 M) domestically in its second weekend, which brings its total gross up to $38 million USD (AUD 56.3 M). Meanwhile Downton Abbey added $8 million USD (AUD 11.9 M) to its domestic total, which is now sitting at $73.6 million USD (AUD 109 M). And, STX’s Hustlers brought in $6.3 million USD (AUD 9.3 M) in its fourth weekend for a current domestic total of $91 million USD (AUD 134.8 M).

 

At this rate, it’s unlikely the Joker movie will be nudged out of the top spot in its second weekend despite newcomers Gemini Man starring Will Smith, The Addams Family animated movie starring Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron, and Jexi starring Adam Devine all making their debuts.

It’s been a hell of a journey to the top for Joker. following a near-rapturous reception of the Joker movie trailer. Todd Phillips’ standalone supervillain origin story has been met with scrutiny, criticism, and backlash from nearly all angles of the movie world after the 2019 Venice Film Festival.

The final scene of the movie throws the entire film into question and made the film more controversial – Is Joker Batman’s half-brother? Moreover, was the whole movie just joke told by the Joker?