It may have fallen from the top of the box office in its third weekend in cinemas, but Warner Bros. Joker movie continues to laugh all the way to the bank.
Adding a further $29.2 million domestically (where it finished second behind Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) and $77 million internationally, the Joaquin Phoenix-led comic book adaptation pushed its global haul to $737.5 million in less than three weeks on release.
That total puts it above It ($700 million) to make it the fourth biggest R-rated movie behind The Matrix Reloaded ($742 million), Deadpool ($783 million) and Deadpool 2 ($785 million), and with less than $50 million to go to catch the Merc with a Mouth, it looks all but assured that Joker will go on to claim the title of the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
SEE ALSO: Jared Leto reportedly tried to block Joker movie from being made
At this point, analysts are predicting a final total of around $900 million for Joker, and that’s not taking into account a possible release in China, which remains unconfirmed at present.
So, how long until we get confirmation of a sequel?
Joker centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.
Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix (The Sisters Brothers), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Brett Cullen (Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Billions), Douglas Hodge (Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn), Shea Whigham (Kong: Skull Island), Douglas Hodge (Robin Hood) and Dante Pereira-Olson (You Were Never Really Here).