‘Joker‘ dominates the box office with $234 million.
The news is in for Todd Phillip’s ‘Joker’ and despite the controversy surrounding the movie, the film rocked the box office. ‘Joker’ brought in opening weekend earnings of $93.5 million with a domestic total of $234 million globally, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It is important to note, the movie has not even premiered in China yet, which means the box office total will continue to rise. The earnings overseas occurred across 70 different markets and is believed to have set records of their own, while in the U.S. ‘Joker’ beat last year’s ‘Venom’ which made $80 million in the box office. Currently, ‘Joker’ is one of the best R-rated openings of all time and the fifth-biggest movie of 2019.
The movie, which explores a struggling comedian Arthur Fleck’s evolution into a criminal, had a lot of controversies. ‘Joker’ had an R-rating and movie theaters implemented a policy by checking IDs and not admitting anyone under 17 years of age unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. According to PostTrak’s exit polling service, eight percent of moviegoers were between the ages of 13-17 and 65 percent between 18-34.
The demographics behind the movie were also studied and had the following results:
- Caucasian: 44%
- Hispanic: 24%
- African American: 16%
- Asians/Other: 14%
‘Abominable’ earned $12 million in the box office this weekend coming in second followed by ‘Downton Abbey’ with $8 million.
In comparison to other Batman movies, ‘The Dark Knight’ earned $158 million for its opening weekend. ‘Suicide Squad’ earned $133 million but, both movies were rated PG-13.
For those interested in the acting process behind the film, Joaquin Phoenix broke down how he got into character both physically and mentally.