Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ Hauls In Record $93.5M Opening Weekend

Joker film poster

Source: Warner Bros. / Warner Bros.

Remember when Batman fans thought it was a horrible idea to give fan favorite villain The Joker his own standalone origin film? Well, we were all wrong as not only did Joaquin Phoenix turn in an Oscar worthy performance, but the film set a record for an October opening as it took in close to $100 million this past weekend.

The HuffPost is reporting that the Todd Phillips directed film grossed $93.5 million in the US in it’s debut weekend while raking in $234 million worldwide. Not bad for a film that almost nobody wanted to see done. It’s US tally set the record for an October film release beating out another comic book film fans originally objected to but still supported when it dropped, Venom. The Spider-Man spinoff film shocked everyone when it grossed $80 million in it’s release weekend, thus securing a sequel that fans are now eagerly awaiting. We’re simple creatures.

But now the Clown Prince of Crime is the king of the October box office and Warner Bros. are looking like geniuses for taking the risk.

“This was a much larger result at the box office than we had ever anticipated globally,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.′ president of domestic distribution. “Putting records aside, we’re just thrilled that audiences are embracing the movie as strong as they are.”

While many were skeptical of how a standalone Joker film would turn out, word of mouth about Joaquin Phoenix’s mesmerizing performance and police and military officials publicly worrying about potential violence breaking out at screenings due to the film’s violent content certainly helped put butts in theater seats.

Unfortunately for Batman fans, word is that there’s almost no chance that this version of the Joker will ever find himself face-to-face with the Dark Knight as the Phillips himself stated that his Joker will never meet Robert Pattison’s Batman. Just when it seemed like the DCEU was finally going in the right direction, too.

No word yet on whether or not Joker will be getting a sequel but rumors say that there’s a great chance Todd Phillips will refrain from giving this origin story a second chapter. Such a shame.

Did y’all see Joker this past weekend? If you did let us know your reaction to the film in the comments below.

Source: HipHopWired.com

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