JOKER Expected to Make Nearly $500 Million in Take Home Profits



JOKER is a huge hit and now over three weeks after its theatrical release, people are still talking about it leading to sustained success going into its fourth weekend, this upcoming weekend.

JOKER is also making a ridiculous amount of money in the global box office. By the time this weekend ends, the R-rated film will easily take over the mantle of highest grossing R-rated film of all-time, in the worldwide box office, surpassing DEADPOOL 2.

According to Deadline, JOKER is set to make as much as a half billion in profits for the studio which is just as much as Disney took home for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Sure, Infinity War made a lot more in global ticket sales, but it also cost way more to produce and market, too.

Deadline writes:

"Our sources say the Joaquin Phoenix pic is poised to make at least $464 million after global theatrical, TV and home entertainment windows, and it could be more if the worldwide box office for the Todd Phillips-directed movie exceeds $900M. That amount of profit isn’t that far from what Avengers: Infinity War racked up last year in black ink: that pic made a half-billion dollars but was more expensive, with a production cost and global P&A [prints and advertising] of … a half-billion dollars.

"Joker‘s profit is also not that far from Black Panther‘s $476.8M, and way ahead of Aquaman‘s $260.5M (which at combined budget and P&A of $348M was 83% more expensive than Joker), Venom’s near $247M and Deadpool 2’s $235.4M."

There was no way anyone could have anticipated JOKER to be this huge of a hit and this is a clear example of Warner Bros. experiencing lightning in the bottle since they weren't even sure if this movie should have been made in the first place. The studio was reportedly so hesitant about financing this low budget comic book movie adaptation (its unconfirmed production budget is in the $50-$60 million range) they sought a co-financing deal to minimal potential losses had the movie bombed in theaters. It didn't bomb, and now Warner Bros. will have to split this nearly $500 million in profits.  While not a mistake, it probably burns studio execs a little bit since they can't have all the profits for themselves. 

But make no mistake that Warner Bros. is most likely behind closed doors figuring out the next character or two or three to give a similar theatrical experience as JOKER. A non-connected comic adaptation, potential period piece, character study movie that toes the line of being more like an indie film.


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