Joker Using Negative Reviews to Promote the DC Comics Movie

Just a few weeks ahead of its release in theaters, Todd Phillips' Joker is already quite the divisive movie on social media. Now, the marketing team at Warner Brothers has decided to squeeze a little lemonade out of the lemons dealt by using pull quotes from some of the "bad" reviews in the movie's marketing. In an Instagram post Friday afternoon, the official Joker profile shared an all-new image of Joaquin Phoenix's baddie featuring a pull quote from an ultimately negative review.

The quote comes from IndieWire's David Ehrlich, who ended up giving the movie a "C+" grade, who slighted the property for being "incendiary, confused, and potentially toxic." As of this writing, the movie has a 75 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 93 reviews counted.

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“An immaculately crafted piece of mass entertainment.” #JokerMovie - in theaters October 4.

A post shared by Joker Movie (@jokermovie) on Sep 10, 2019 at 9:00am PDT

ComicBook's Brandon Davis thought the world of the movie by giving it a perfect 5 out of 5, applauding it for being a genre-bending, scaled-back superhero movie.

"Joker is loaded with mystery on top of its numerous twists," Davis says in his review. "By the time it ends, viewers will be left with several questions about the experience, some of which might be scarily directed at themselves. Phoenix's Arthur laughs his way through terrible scenarios. For this, the actor demands an Oscar nomination it might not be the only nod this DC Comics movie earns. The cinematography, score, and direction create something unlike anything before it - -and it's terrifying, thrilling, and moving."

Despite the mixed reviews, early box office tracking suggests the film could have a record-breaking opening. Deadline reports the film could end up grossing at least $90 million domestically, breaking Venom's $80.2m October opening record set last year.

Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck), Zazie Beetz (Sophie Dumond), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), Brett Cullen (Thomas Wayne), Frances Conroy (Penny Fleck), Marc Maron (Ted Marco), Douglas Hodge (Alfred Pennyworth), Josh Pais (Hoyt Vaughn), Bryan Tyree Henry, Bryan Callen, Shea Whigham, and Glen Fleshler.

Joker is due out October 4th. Other upcoming DC movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2on December 16, 2022.

How much do you think Joker will end up making at the box office? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!