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Joker Becomes The Most Profitable Comic Book Movie Of All-Time

No, this is not click bait! After it’s incredible 5 week run at the box office since its October release, Joker has become the most profitable comic book film of all time.

How is this possible with Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest grossing film of all time this past summer? The answer is quite simple, profit margin!

With $304.2 million in North America after five weeks in theaters, Joker’s new world wide box office total is around $953 million. It is assumed that if the percentage drops throughout its 5 week run holds, it will be $957 million by tonight. That will be 15.3x its $62.5 million production budget, which will make the Todd Phillips-directed and Joaquin Phoenix-starring drama more profitable, in terms of budget versus global gross, than Jim Carrey’s The Mask ($351 million on a $23 million budget in 1994).  Reported by Forbes,

The most profitable “big” comic book movies are 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).

That means DC Films and Warner Bros.’ Joker is the most profitable comic book movie of all time.

The most impressive thing about this accomplishment is that the film is that’s pulling top-tier blockbuster business without relying on China.Along with the fact that the film has an R-rating, the sucess of the film is unseen for the genre. Joker 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). When the film becomes the first R-rated film to reach one billion worldwide in the few weeks, it will be the cheapest movie to do so, with a budget just under the $63 million spent by Jurassic Park back in 1993.

David Gonzalez
David Gonzalez is the founder and chief film critic of The Cinematic Reel (formerly Reel Talk Inc.) and host of the Reel Chronicles podcasts. A Cuban American independent film critic, David has built The Cinematic Reel around passionate, thoughtful film criticism spanning every genre, while championing diverse voices and perspectives across the industry. David is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved Critic and currently serves as Vice President of the New Jersey Film Critics Circle (NJFCC). He is also a member of New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), and the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA). His festival coverage has included the Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), New York Film Festival (NYFF), Tribeca Festival, and SXSW, among others. Through The Cinematic Reel, David provides year-round reviews, festival coverage, awards-season analysis, interviews, and commentary on both major studio releases and independent cinema. An avid film collector, lifelong cinephile, and dedicated awards watcher, David brings an enthusiastic and knowledgeable perspective to his writing and podcasting. His criticism has been featured in film marketing campaigns and physical-media releases, further establishing The Cinematic Reel as a growing independent voice in film criticism. For screening invitations, review opportunities, festival coverage, and other press inquiries, David can be reached at david@thecinematicreel.com.

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