'Joker' Becomes 1st R-Rated Movie to Top $1 Billion at the Box Office

LA, November 16, 2019:

Joaquin Phoenix starrer 'Joker' has become the first R-rated movie in cinema history to earn over a billion dollars at the box-office. The Todd Phillips directorial, re has earned the distinction in its seventh week of release.

ALSO READ: BJP Organizes Protests Against RaGa Demanding Apology Over ‘Rafale’ Comments

By hitting the 1 Billion dollar mark, 'Joker' has become the first R-rated movie to hit this milestone and the third non-Disney/Universal movie to do so in just under a year. Prior to Warner Bros.’ Aquaman ($1.048 billion in 2018/2019) and Sony’s Spider-Man: Far from Home ($1.031 billion in 2019), no movie not from Disney or Universal had passed the $1 billion milestone since Paramount’s Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014.

ALSO READ: With 47 Journalist Deaths Since 1992, is the Press Truly ‘Free’ in India?

What makes this feat even more impressive is that 'Joker' was not even released in China, as the Chinese board objected to the film's release in the Middle Kingdom due to 'violent content'. Once it passes fellow DC movie, The Dark Knight, presumably tomorrow, it’ll be (in raw unadjusted grosses) the biggest grossing movie ever to never play in China.

As of November 14, 2019, Joker has grossed $317 million in the United States and Canada, and $678.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $995.1 million.

It is the seventh highest-grossing film of 2019 and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time Joker is also one of the most profitable films based on a comic book, due to its small budget and little decline in week-to-week grosses during its theatrical run.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.