It may have become embroiled in controversy in the build-up to its release, but there’s no denying that Todd Phillips’ Joker blew all preconceptions and expectations completely out of the water, and went on to become one of the defining movies of 2019.
The Clown Prince of Crime’s R-rated origin story captured the public’s imagination and rode a huge wave of momentum all the way through to awards season, which saw the comic book thriller nominated for more Academy Awards than any other movie this year, with Joaquin Phoenix deservedly scooping the Best Actor prize for his incredible lead performance. Not only that, but Joker was also a box office juggernaut, dominating the competition and smashing countless records as it sailed past the billion dollar mark globally, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.
Despite being released in the first week of October, Joker’s theatrical run has only just come to an end after 155 days, with Arthur Fleck’s descent into madness occupying 46th place for its final weekend in theaters after earning just over $24,000. The fact that Joker is still earning any money from theaters at all is an impressive feat in itself, given that the movie’s been available on home video for almost three months.
Despite sitting pretty as the biggest R-rated hit ever, Joker couldn’t quite manage the same feat domestically, although a $335.4 million total from the United States and Canada alone is still an impressive feat. Phillips’ twisted comic book flick sits behind American Sniper, Deadpool and The Passion of the Christ, but none of those titles can even come close to matching the $1.074 billion that Joker made globally, which makes it the 31st highest-grossing movie of all time.
