Maybe it’s only appropriate for a character that’s been around since 1940: Warner Bros.’ Joker just won’t go away.
The supervillain origin story laughed all the way to the bank—again—reclaiming the weekend’s No. 1 spot in our box-office countdown after slipping to No. 2 last weekend. Granted, it didn’t exactly break the bank this time around, earning a modest (and estimated) $18.9 million. But give the clown a break: Joker’s been in theaters for a month, which makes the movie almost as old as some of his gags.
And now, with $277.6 million in its ample domestic-gross pockets, Joker’s now dancing into some rarified air. It’s the seventh-largest R-rated movie ever, according to Box Office Mojo, and it’s the eighth-biggest DC Comics movie adaptation too, about $14.1 million behind Superman himself (Man of Steel). Add in the moola that Joker has raked in from overseas, and the harlequin’s numbers grow even more impressive: Joker’s global total stands at a very why-so-serious $849.1 million. And if you’re wondering, that makes it the No. 1 R-rated movie of all time worldwide.
Last week’s champ, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, nearly claimed a second-straight victory—finishing just $400,000 behind Joker. But its estimated $18.5 million wasn’t quite enough to get the job done. So instead, Maleficent slipped to second place and, I’d imagine, is plotting ways to get Joker to prick his little finger on a spinning wheel needle.
The Addams Family, like Joker, climbed up a notch this weekend, moving up to third with $11.7 million and just barely nudging Zombieland: Double Tap out of bronze-medal contention. (The latter earned $11.6 million according to early estimates, which makes it possible that when the actual figures are tallied, it could leap past the Addams’ creepy clan.)
The horror movie Countdown was the only newcomer to land in the top five, banking $9 million. It kept fellow freshman flick Black and Blue ($8.3 million) in sixth place.
The rest of the several thousand films Plugged In published in time for the weekend (well, OK, eight) barely made a ripple, financially speaking—though some looked rather impressive all the same.
The Lighthouse increased its theater count to 568 (about 3,400 fewer theaters than Joker) and earned $3.7 million for eighth place. The Current War: Director’s Cut zapped its way to $2.7 million for ninth. And the curious little film Jojo Rabbit earned more than $1 million (14th place) despite playing in just 55 theaters. Meanwhile, Kanye West’s surprisingly affecting concert movie Jesus is King—the closest thing we have to a Christian movie in the top 20—banked $830,000 for 16th place, playing in just 372 IMAX theaters. Two other Christian (or Christian-esque movies) we reviewed—The Reliant and The Great Alaskan Race—apparently didn’t report their numbers, because they’re nowhere to be found.
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