'Joker' becomes first R-rated movie to pass $1 billion

[The_King]

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (Credit: Warner Bros)

Joker has exceeded box office predictions and passed the $1 billion mark, making it the first R-rated movie to achieve the milestone.

Depsite many analyst reckoning the movie would stall at around $950 million, the DC Comics origin story, with Joaquin Phoenix playing the tortured stand-up comedian who would become Batman's nemesis, has powered through.

Its worldwide haul now stands at $1,016,599,593, according to Box Office Mojo, nearly £785 million.

 

 

A handful of R-rated have come close to the one billion mark in recent years, notably Deadpool 2, with $785 million, and It with $700 million.

But Joker, helmed by Todd Philips, has left them in the dust.

The Matrix Reloaded also managed a huge $828 million in 2003, which accounting for inflation would actually tip it over to $1.1 billion, but there's still potential for Joker to hit that record too.

However, the haul may not mean record bonuses at Warner Bros this year, with the studio having suffered a string of eye-popping flops in recent months.

(Credit: Warner Bros)

Thriller The Good Liar with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen has made only $9 million worldwide, Ed Norton-directed crime drama Motherless Brooklyn has made $9.5 million, while the adaptation of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch made $9.7 million.

Shining sequel Doctor Sleep has also failed to set the box office alight, making only $53 million worldwide, and already slowing.

According to Variety 'Joker is an undisputed victory with $1 billion in global ticket sales, but even those profit margins might not be enough to mop up all the red ink'.

 

 

https://sg.yahoo.com/movies/joker-becomes-first-rrated-movie-to-pass-1-billion-102545370.html