Last weekend Joker didn't just blow away it's competition at the box office. The movie set a number of records for the month of October. After having the top opening weekend in October ever, defeating Sony's Venom, Joker has continued to destroy Marvel's symbiotic Spider-Man spinoff. Even during the week, when many fewer people go to the movie, Joker is setting records. Joker has now had the highest grossing Tuesday in October ever, a record it has also taken from Venom.
And things don't appear to be slowing down any. Joker is expected to bring in another $42 million or more this coming weekend, which will put it well ahead of the weekend's two new releases, the animated Addams Family and Will Smith's Gemini Man, directed by Ang Lee.
For the record, Venom brought in $35 million in its second weekend. That was a 56% drop for that movie, which is exactly the same percentage drop Joker will receive if it brings in the $42.5 million that Deadline is projecting. Interestingly, $42.5 won't be a second weekend October record if that's where Joker ends up. Venom doesn't have that record. The second weekend October record actually belongs to Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, at $43.1 million. Gravity didn't start out as strong as either film when it opened, but saw a remarkably low 22% drop from its first weekend to its second, in part because the film actually added screens in its second weekend.
Still Joker's projection is within striking distance of Gravity's number, so a record is still very possible there as well.
It's not all that shocking that Joker is continuing to set box office records even during the week. Between the controversy of the film's subject matter and the ending that leaves many people wanting to talk about the movie people don't want to be left out of the conversation. Also, many national theater chains run discounts on Tuesdays, so if you're going to go to the movies at all during the week to catch the much talked about film, Tuesday is the day to do it in most markets.
Still, this might be Joker's last big weekend at the domestic box office. Next week will bring a pair of contenders in long awaited sequels, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Zombieland: Double Tap both arrive and that, combined with Joker's own natural drop off, will mean it will likely stop setting records at the box office soon.
With a global total that will be over $300 million by the time this weekend is over, everybody involved is likely quite happy with Joker's success thus far. While the exact budget is unknown, the movie didn't have the extensive post-production CGI that most movies related to DC Comics have needed, making this likely one of the cheaper to make comic book movies in recent memory.
