Joker: With a $953 mn global collection, Joaquin Phoenix's film becomes Warner Bros, DC's most profitable comic book film

The reviews and reactions for _Joker_ though polarised, paints a very different picture at the box office. As per a Forbes article, the film has grossed $304.2 million in North America after five weeks of its release, bringing up the global total to $953 million. With a presumed 32 percent to 68 percent split, the new global collections may even hit $957 million, which is roughly 15.3 times the $62.5 million production budget of the film. This will essentially make the Todd Phillips-directed and Joaquin Phoenix-starring drama more profitable (in terms of budget as opposed to global gross), than Jim Carrey’s The Mask.  [caption id=“attachment_7450861” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Joaquin Phoenix in a still from Joker | File Image[/caption] Venom ($854 million on a $90 million budget), Batman ($411 million/$35 million), Deadpool ($783 million/$58 million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($200 million/$13.5 million), The Mask ($351 million/$23 million) and now Joker ($956 million/$62.5 million) are by far the most profitable comic book productions in terms of this ratio. This makes Joker, DC Films’ and Warner Bros’ most profitable comic book film of all time. The report also adds that the film is the third-cheapest $900 million grosser of all time after Bohemian Rhapsody ($905 million on a $52 million budget) and The Lion King ($968 million on a $55 million budget in 1994). In case the film manages to cross the $1 billion mark worldwide by next week, it will have become the cheapest film to do so. Joker offers a new take on the origin story of the rise of Batman’s maniacal arch-enemy, painting a dark portrayal of a would-be stand-up comedian’s descent into madness. Phillips had explained that the plot is more about how Joker becomes the man he came to be.  Joker also screened at Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival before its opening in US theatres on 4 October. (Also Read: As more Joker fans flock a Bronx staircase featured in film, media tourism and growing weariness of locals come into focus )