It’s no exaggeration to say that Joker is a monster of a hit in terms of box office sales. Having recently topped the UK charts for six consecutive weeks, the accomplishments just keep adding up. In fact, according to Forbes, the film will pass – or, in all likelihood, has passed – the $1 billion worldwide mark today.
Currently, it’s got a domestic total of just over $316 million and – at the time of writing – a worldwide figure of a whopping $998 million. This means that in the next few hours it’ll smash through the one billion dollar barrier, if it hasn’t already, making it the first R-rated movie to reach such a milestone.
It’s also “the third non-Disney/Universal movie to do so in just under a year,” the other two being Aquaman and Spider-Man: Far From Home. We should also mention that those two films made it to $1 billion with the help of China’s box office figures, whereas Joker has managed without it. To that extent, all it needs to do now is pass The Dark Knight and it’ll be the biggest movie to never play in China (there’s an interesting fact for you).
Despite director Todd Phillips saying that Joker was only intended as a one-off, this latest achievement will surely get things rolling for a possible sequel. After all, given the ending of the first film, it would definitely make sense to pursue further ideas, especially when you factor in its business at the box office.
Of course, for those who’ve seen Joker, which seems like almost everyone at this stage, it’s easy to understand all this success. Even though it’s a comic book flick, it’s a mature departure from the usual fare in the genre (not that those are bad, of course) and it’s been receiving extremely positive reviews ever since it debuted. As such, it seems only inevitable now that Warner Bros. is getting ready to announce a sequel. Watch this space for more.