Joker debut takes over the worldwide box office

The Clown Prince of Crime has dominated the global box office on its worldwide debut. Despite controversy and divisive reviews, Todd Phillip’s dark retelling of the comic book villain Joker prevailed.

Warner Bros. Pictures is raking in big with the highly publicized film along with its superb performance from the headliner, Joaquin Phoenix. Critics are torn between calling Joker a masterpiece and questioning the necessity of its themes of extreme violence. The film’s PR recently tipped the scale towards negative press as families of Aurora shooting victims voiced their disdain over the feature.

While it started with strong reviews in its Venice International Film Festival premiere, critic support has fiercely dropped over its rollercoaster launch.

Now, the rated R film is hailed the best ever in an October box office with its USD93.5 million domestic ranks. Last year’s “Venom” starring Tom Hardy lost out with its USD13 million gross at a PG-13 rating that means wider audience reach.

The Phillips-helmed film opened to USD250 million overseas as it hit international cinemas on October 3rd. With that being said, the film is a box office success.

Which begs the question, how long will Joker hold its place? So far, we can tell that it’ll hold pretty well. Its tally ranks at 114th in the all-time best opening weekends in cinema. Currently, it ranks 5th best for 2019 despite the controversy, mixed reviews, an R-rating and its mostly male-targeted appeal.

It’s worth noting that Joker was made on a modest USD55 million budget which further cements its success for Warner Bros.

Samantha Rigby
Samantha Rigby
Samantha is the head of content, lifestyle and entrepreneurial columnist for Best in Australia. She is also a contributor to Forbes and SH. Prior to joining the Best in Au, she was a reporter and business journalist for local newspapers.
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