Every Record Joker Has Already Broken at the Box Office

No one is laughing at Joker, studio Warner Bros.' highest-grossing release of the year. Since its Oct. 4 start, the Todd Phillips-directed drama has earned a still-growing $737 million worldwide, making it the eighth highest-grossing movie of 2019. Joker has left a series of shattered records in its wake, including ousting Sony's Venom as October's largest domestic and international opening of all time, Warner Bros.' biggest domestic opening since 2017, the fourth-best opening weekend for an R-rated movie domestically, and career bests for Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro. Joker's box office success gets the last laugh on WB, as the studio reportedly gave the film, set outside its mainstream DC Comics film continuity, a smaller budget in hopes it wouldn't get made.

"Not only did Joker over-perform in North America, but also internationally where the acclaim, buzz and controversy surrounding the film resonated strongly with moviegoers who put the film at the top of their cinematic priority list," Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian previously told Variety. "Movies that become part of the general conversation due to their controversial nature are often those that transcend their status as a movie to become a cultural event and this is exactly what happened with Joker."