Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ To Overperform With $60 Million On Second Weekend

Joker Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is looking to overperform in a big way on its second weekend, with early numbers suggesting that there will only be a small drop from its debut to its sophomore outing.

According to The WrapJoker is looking to have a second weekend that will make around $60 million, a pretty light drop from the film’s $96 million opening weekend of about 37%. Comparatively, most well-received movies drop in the 50%-55% range on the second outing, with a drop of 60% or more indicating that there may be problems if subsequent weekend holds don’t rebound.

In spite of the many controversies about the film’s release (from concerns over glorifying — and potentially inspiring — lone wolf killers to using convicted pedophile Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll” in a crucial scene), there’s clearly no such thing as bad publicity, as Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is set to cross the $200M line domestically by Monday if current projections hold. That will make the movie a bigger hit domestically than IT: Chapter Two, and indicates that the film’s relentlessly bleak nature isn’t deterring audiences from checking out what’s being called a career-defining role for star Joaquin Phoenix. Joker will also top the domestic total of Sony’s Venom at the current rate, which is especially impressive considering that it isn’t an action film.

Obviously, a “Hard-R”, Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy-inspired take on Batman’s archnemesis isn’t going to be family-friendly material, so The Addams Family is subsequently overperforming this weekend as counter-programming. It’s currently expected to bring in over $32 million this weekend. Meanwhile, Paramount’s Gemini Man is expected to be a domestic flop at about $20 million. Suffice to say, Warner Bros. and DC Films are likely laughing all the way to the bank with the success of their film.

Here is the official synopsis for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker:

Director Todd Phillips’ Joker centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.

Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham. The movie is not part of the DC Extended Universe, and seems to play into Warner Bros.’s interests of making creator-driven superhero movies over necessarily building a hyper-connected shared universe… At least for the time being.

Joker is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the Joaquin Phoenix movie.

Source: The Wrap