If you happen to stumble on a time machine, consider going back to be an investor in DC's Joker movie. It's a mini ATM, churning out cash week after week and it's about to hit another major box office milestone.
Will Joker reach $1 billion worldwide? Well, it's getting closer since it's meant to hit $900 million worldwide by the end of this weekend. That's after being out in theaters for exactly one month.
Todd Phillips' movie was made on a production budget of somewhere between $55–70 million, and even though that doesn't include marketing costs, it's long since made up that coin. It started by breaking records for any October release and recently became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time -- much to Ryan Reynolds' angst. It'll almost surely lead to Joaquin Phoenix getting an Oscar nomination, if not a win.
According to Forbes, Joker is expected to pass Man of Steel's $291 million domestic gross this weekend, and pass $600 million at the international box office (without any help from China) for a total close to $900 million by Sunday. As the site noted, when -- not if, when -- Joker passes Spider-Man: Homecoming's $880M and Spider-Man 3's $890M it'll be the 8th biggest solo comic book movie ever (unadjusted for inflation).
Joker keeps leaving much bigger and more typical comic book movies in the dust. What's next? We don't know if it'll get there, but Joker could rival The Dark Knight's $1.004 billion if it does manage to hit that next major milestone. Can you imagine? The Dark Knight reportedly cost $185 million to make before it came out in 2008. It's a very different movie, with a very different Joker from Heath Ledger, who won an Oscar for the role. But Joaquin Phoenix could seriously give DC's Joker a second Oscar. Batman is screaming.
Joker left fans with a lot of questions, and it sounds like most were intentional from director Todd Phillips. That's one of the reasons why this movie keeps making money -- fans are seeing it multiple times and finding new details in each viewing.
But here's my question: What's Bradley Cooper's cut from this movie? He's listed as one of the producers. Yes, the same Bradley Cooper who had a surprise hit last year with Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born and who voices Rocket in Avengers: Endgame. Don't sleep on Bradley Cooper, he's coming for all the box office receipts and awards.
Joker topped the box office for its first two weekends, took second for its third, and almost won its fourth weekend last week. This weekend it's expected to make around $11 million at the domestic box office, placing third behind Terminator: Dark Fate and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, but it'll be a close one with Maleficent 2 again. Joker vs. Maleficent -- who saw that coming as our fall 2019 villain showdown? Check our weekend box office rundown on Sunday for the final estimates.
