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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 7 october 2019
'Joker' laughs its way to

October box office record

By LINDSEY BAHR ing up to its release, hype bigger than expected at
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The and uneasiness intensified the box office.
filmmakers and studio be- beyond how audiences "It's the ultimate water-
hind "Joker" have reason to would react to placing this cooler movie right now,"
put on a happy face. De- character in a realistic and Dergarabedian said.
spite concerns over its vio- unambiguously adult set- He added that it was im-
lent themes and ramped ting with "Taxi Driver" under- portant that "Joker" was
up theater security, audi- tones. Responding to anxi- always marketed as a "very
ences flocked to the mul- ety that the film might have dark, R-rated film."
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin tiplex to check out the R- the potential to inspire "It always had an element
Phoenix in a scene from the film, "Joker." rated film this weekend re- violence, multiple theater of mystery and danger sur-
Associated Press sulting in a record October chains banned costumes rounding it," Dergarabe-
opening. or reaffirmed earlier poli- dian said. "If it were a G-
Warner Bros. said Sunday cies regarding masks and rated film, controversy like
that "Joker" grossed an esti- authorities in numerous cit- this would not be a good
mated $93.5 million in ticket ies said they were stepping thing."
sales from 4,374 screens in police patrols around the- In the landscape of R-rated
North America. The previ- aters. Some relatives of the comic book films, "Joker" is
ous October record-holder 2012 Aurora movie theater nestled between "Dead-
was the Spider-Man spinoff shooting even asked War- pool" and its sequel, both
"Venom" which opened to ner Bros . to commit to gun of which opened over $125
$80 million last year. Inter- control causes — the studio million, and "Logan," which
nationally, "Joker" earned said it always has. launched with $88.4 million.
$140.5 million from 73 mar- While some worried this "Joker" was the only new
kets, resulting in a stunning would impact the box of- wide release this weekend,
$234 million global debut. fice, it did not ultimately de- which is down from last year
"This was a much larger re- tract audiences from turn- when both "Venom" and "A
sult at the box office than ing out opening weekend; Star is Born" opened. Hold-
we had ever anticipated the box office surpassed overs populated the top
globally," said Jeff Gold- industry expectations and 10: The more family friendly
stein, Warner Bros.' presi- may rise even higher when "Abominable" landed in
dent of domestic distribu- weekend actuals are re- second place with $12 mil-
tion. "Putting records aside, ported Monday. Although lion in its second weekend
we're just thrilled that audi- the film got a B+ CinemaS- and "Downton Abbey" took
ences are embracing the core from opening night third in its third weekend
movie as strong as they audiences, the studio is op- with $8 million.
are." timistic about its long-term With awards buzz behind
Since debuting at the Ven- playability. it, the Judy Garland biopic
ice Film Festival where it "Sixty-six percent of the au- "Judy," starring Renee Zell-
won the prestigious Golden dience was under the age weger, added nearly 1,000
Lion last month, "Joker" has of 35," Goldstein said. "That screens this weekend and
been both praised and tells you that the audience placed seventh with $4.5
criticized for its dark spin on will expand out with that million from 1,458 locations.
the classic Batman villain younger group as time And in limited release,
played by Joaquin Phoe- goes on." The younger au- Pedro Almodóvar's criti-
nix. The film from director dience also gave the film cally acclaimed "Pain and
and co-writer Todd Phillips a more favorable A- Cin- Glory" launched on four
was always seen as a bit emaScore. screens to a solid $160,087.
of a gamble with one of Paul Dergarabedian, the Less fortunate was the Nat-
the studios' most valuable senior media analyst for alie Portman-led astronaut
pieces of intellectual prop- box office tracker Com- drama "Lucy in the Sky"
erty, hence its modest-for- score, said that the conver- which earned only $55,000
a-comic-book-film $55 mil- gence of critical acclaim from 37 theaters resulting in
lion budget. and controversy actually a dismal $1,500 per screen
But in the weeks lead- helped the film become average.q