Joker Movie Performance Is Even More Impressive When China Is Factored out of Global Box Office

Joker is on a tear at the box office, quickly becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film to ever hit theaters. The film from The Hangover alum Todd Phillips is already in the upper echelon of comic book movies despite being at a tremendous disadvantage — it's not receiving a release in China, the second biggest box office market in the world. Through Monday, Joker has grossed an astonishing $852 million worldwide, a total even more impressive when you compare it other films based on DC Comics released by Warner Brothers.

If you remove the China earnings from all other recent DC films, Joker would rank second on the list, only behind Aquaman's $862m China-less haul. And if we're being honest, it'll likely take over that top spot by the time its theatrical release wraps up. Using the same conditions, the movie has already blown out all other DCEU films to date, already a whopping $74m ahead of Batman v Superman's $778m take. Other DC totals not including Chinese earnings include Suicide Squad ($747m), Wonder Woman ($733m), Man of Steel ($605m), and Justice League ($553m).

Even including the China earnings for all other movies, Joker is still a top-ten movie on the year, currently settling in at seventh on worldwide charts, ahead of Hobbs & Shaw's $758.8m. It still trailers Aladdin by $200m, likely an insurmountable gap this point in time. After Joker broke the $800m milestone, Warner exec Toby Emmerich released a statement applauding Phillip's vision on the Joaquin Phoenix-starring project.

"Todd Phillips's bold, creative vision is evident in every frame of 'Joker,' matched only by Joaquin Phoenix's incomparable interpretation of this iconic character," Emmerich said. "What they and everyone who worked on this film created has clearly resonated with audiences worldwide. We congratulate them and our colleagues at DC on reaching this extraordinary benchmark, and I personally want to congratulate the entire Warner Bros. team on the roll-out of this film."

Joker is now showing in theaters. Upcoming DC Films 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 2 on December 16, 2022.

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