Move over, Venom, there’s a new comic book movie expected to rule autumn. Joker appears on pace to shatter the impressive October box office record set by the aforementioned film last year. Analysts predict that the upcoming pic will earn somewhere between $70 to $95 million its opening weekend. Venom sits right in the middle of that range at $80.2 million for its debut. The flick went on to earn over $850 million globally, despite some brutal reviews from critics, and now, it sounds like Joker will soar past that.
Of course, there are a few differences between that action feature and the latest Warner Bros. project that bode well for the Joaquin Phoenix-driven origin story. For starters, Joker’s one of the most well-known bad guys of all-time. Some of the best ever performances in comic book movies have come from actors portraying the Clown Prince of Crime, too, and Heath Ledger even won a posthumous Academy Award for his turn as Batman’s arch nemesis in The Dark Knight.
It sounds like Phoenix may be following in those footsteps as well. Unlike Venom, the upcoming film has been praised by the majority of those who’ve seen it thus far, with much of the acclaim being directed at the star’s potentially career-defining performance. Some are even predicting that he’ll nab his fourth Oscar nomination, potentially even walking away with the gold statue for the first time in his life. That certainly bodes well for the movie’s bottom line.
None of this, however, necessarily means the flick is definitely destined for success. There’ve been plenty other critically beloved features that ended up disappointing the studio financially. Remember Scott Pilgrim vs. the World? Still, all this praise and the character’s name recognition definitely imply that Joker is on its way towards a record-setting month.