Associated Press
"Joker."
- "Joker" wins the box office with a $93.5 million take.
- That's the biggest opening weekend ever for an October release.
- It beat out previous record-holder "Venom," which earned $80 million its opening weekend last year.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Warner Bros. is king of the mountaintop this weekend in Hollywood, and it's thanks to combining the Clown Prince of Crime with the director of "The Hangover."
"Joker," Todd Phillips' extremely dark and twisted origin story of DC Comics villain The Joker, brought in an estimated $93.5 million over the weekend, which is the biggest opening ever for the month of October.
The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the legendary comic book character, played on 4,374 screens, the most ever for an October release. The result is a record-breaking weekend cume that has already made back the movie's north of $60 million production budget for Warner Bros. The record came despite heightened police activity at movie theaters due to fears surrounding potential violence at the screenings and a Rotten Tomatoes score that plummeted following buzz from the Venice and Toronto film festivals.
Here are a few notable benchmarks for the movie:
- The $93.5 million opening beat previous October record holder "Venom," which brought in $80 million its first weekend last year.
- The movie is the fourth biggest opening for an R-rated movie ever, surpassing "The Matrix Reloaded ($91.7 million).
- The opening is also better than Warner Bros.' biggest earner of the year so far, "It: Chapter Two" ($91 million).
- "Joker" earned $39.9 million its opening day, which is also an October record (included in that is its $13.3 million brought in during Thursday preview screenings, which is also a record).
- It beat out previous first day opening October record holder, 2018's "Halloween" ($33 million).
- The movie made more on its first day than "Justice League" ($38.4 million), "Wonder Woman" ($38.2 million), "It: Chapter Two" ($37 million), and "Logan" ($33 million).
It's a huge win for Warner Bros., which has been on a roller coaster ride this year in regards to how its movies have performed. There have been highs like "It: Chapter Two," "Shazam!," and "The Curse of La Llorona," but also lows like "The Kitchen," "Isn't It Romantic," and "The Goldfinch."
An interesting test for "Joker" will come next weekend when Paramount opens the Will Smith movie "Gemini Man." Not being received well by critics (43% on Rotten Tomatoes), the movie will have a fight with "Joker" for the top spot.