Filmmaker Todd Phillips' R-rated Joker is not slowing down and has joined the billion dollar club at the worldwide box-office. Joker is the fourth DC title to cross $1 billion, behind "Aquaman" ($1.15 billion), "The Dark Knight Rises" ($1.084 billion) and "The Dark Knight" ($1.005 billion), not adjusted for inflation.
The superhero movie starring Joaquin Phoenix is also destined to generate profits of $600 million for Warners and partners Village Roadshow and Bron. The two partners each have a 25 percent stake in the film, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
Overall, it is becoming the 13th live-action comic book movie to collect $1 billion or more, even though it is not billed as a traditional "superhero" movie.
"Joker" had already passed up "Deadpool" ($783 million) to become the top-grossing R-rated pic of all time, not adjusted for inflation.
"Joker" will become the sixth Warners film to lay claim to the billion-dollar milestone. In addition to "Aquaman" and the two "Dark Knight" movies, the other titles are the final "Harry Potter" movie ($1.34 billion) and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" ($1.02 billion).
That number grows to seven if counting "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ($1.13 billion).
In terms of other DC titles in the post-Christopher Nolan era, "Man of Steel" topped out at $668 million globally, followed by "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" ($873.6 million), "Suicide Squad" ($746.8 million), "Wonder Woman" ($821.8 million) and "Justice League" ($657.9 million).
The standalone film is being touted as an origin story as well as a character study of the Clown Prince of Crime. It premiered at the festival on August 31 and received an eight-minute-long standing ovation from the viewers. Phoenix negated being influenced by past silver screen Jokers. He lost 23 kgs (52 pounds) for the part, fully inhabiting his own version of the character which first appeared in the original Batman comic in 1940, reports hollywoodreporter.com. Losing weight in such a short time helped Phoenix get into his character.
"It turns out that affects your psychology. You start to go mad," he said. Director Todd Phillips also gave him a blank journal/joke book which helped him uncover his character as he began to fill in the pages, with words and images that are seen in the film. In 'Joker', Phoenix stars as Arthur Fleck, a man living in near-poverty with his mother (Frances Conroy), struggling to make ends meet as a clown for hire.
