Todd Phillips’ Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Batman villain, is setting up for an opening that is certainly going to plant smiles on the faces of Warner Bros. executives. According to The Wrap, the R-rated film is tracking for a gut-splitting $75 million opening, with another independent tracker projecting an even bigger $90 million opening that would supplant Venom for the biggest October opening ever.
The film has received mostly positive reviews – it currently sits at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes – and seems destined to go down as one of the more polarizing films of the year.
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Director Todd Phillips’ original, standalone origin story Joker explores the world of—and according to—Arthur Fleck. Indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, Arthur is a man facing the cruelty and outright scorn of society, along with the indifference of a system that allows him to spiral from vulnerability into depravity. A clown-for-hire by day, he strives to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds that the joke always seems to be on him. He’s out of tune with everyone around him, as evidenced by his uncontrollable, inappropriate laughter, which gains momentum as he attempts to contain it, exposing him to further ridicule—and even violence.
Arthur, who devotes himself to caring for his fragile mother, seeks out every father figure he’s never had, from wealthy businessman Thomas Wayne to TV host Murray Franklin. Caught in a cyclical existence teetering on the precipice of reality and madness, one bad decision brings about a chain reaction of escalating, ultimately deadly, events.
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Buy The Joker: A Celebration Of 75 Years here and catch up on the Clown Prince of Crime.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as the titular villain with Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow, Molly’s Game), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Brett Cullen (Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Barry), Douglas Hodge (Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn), and Shea Whigham (First Man).
Todd Phillips (The Hangover trilogy) directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with writer Scott Silver (The Fighter), based on characters from DC. The film is being produced by Phillips and Bradley Cooper under their Joint Effort banner, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff. It is executive produced by Richard Baratta, Joseph Garner, and Bruce Berman.
Joker opens in theaters everywhere on October 4.
