‘Joker’ Has the Last Laugh With Record $96M U.S. Bow, $248M Globally

The reviews and stats are in for Todd Phillips’s Joker and unsurprisingly the movie’s extensive marketing has proven successful; the film brought in opening weekend earnings of $93.5 million USD, according to box office ticket sales.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that the film, which explores failing comedian Arthur Fleck’s transition into the criminal mastermind, gained a total of $234 million USD globally, even without a premiere yet to happen in China. The earnings overseas occurred across 70 markets and is believed to have set benchmarks of their own, while domestically Joker topped last year’s Venom which brought in $80 million USD. As it stands, the film is one of the best R-rated opening weekends of all time, while standing as the fifth best for 2019 in general.

Its success is regardless of the “hard-R” rating it has received; movie theaters across the US have implemented its policy to uphold the rating by checking IDs and not admitting anyone under 17 years of age unless accompanied by an adult or guardian. 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.

Additionally, an ethnicity breakdown of the crowd was conducted, with the following results:

Caucasian: 44%
Hispanic: 24%
African American: 16%
Asians/Other: 14%

Besides Joker, Abominable placed second with $12 million USD domestically this weekend, followed by Downton Abbey with $8 million USD. For comparison, The Dark Knight earned $158 million USD for its opening weekend while Suicide Squad, which featured Jared Leto’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime, earned $133 million USD — both films were rated PG-13.

SOURCE THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER