Box Office: ‘Joker’ Isn’t Joaquin Phoenix’s Most Successful Movie—Yet - Forbes

Joker

Warner Bros.

Almost one month ago—just days before the release of the soon-to-be-record-breaking Joker—I explored what Joker needed to become Joaquin Phoenix’s biggest movie at the box office.

Of course, as you can see from those rankings, Joker has succeeded in many ways. Its $96.2 million domestic opening was easily the best of Phoenix’s career. And Joker’s $852 million worldwide run may very well double the total from Phoenix’s second-most successful film, Gladiator.

But there’s one category where Joker still hasn’t won out. While Joker’s $277.9 million total has eclipsed Signs for the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, Joker has not passed either Signs or Gladiator when we account for ticket price inflation. In that category, Joker still ranks third—by quite a bit.

Here are those rankings:

1. Signs ($353.5 million)
2. Gladiator ($313.7 million)
3. Joker ($277.9 million)
4. Parenthood ($226.4 million)
5. Walk the Line ($167.1 million)
6. The Village ($165.7 million)
7. Ladder 49 ($108.1 million)

This formula is actually very important for tracking which movie was most successful at the U.S. box office because it evens the playing field. An average movie ticket in 2019 costs $9.01. But in 2002 when Signs hit theaters, the average ticket was only $5.81. And in 2000 when Gladiator dropped, the average cost was $5.39. Adjusting for inflation allows us to measure ticket sales as opposed to total revenue.

Now when we compare Signs and Joker week by week, we’ll find that they’re actually pretty even with one another. Joker only barely edged out Signs by $3 million for opening weekend sales. And after four weekends in theaters, Signs’ inflated total stood at $276.9 million, where as Joker’s stood at $277.9 million.

So, technically, Joker is on pace to be Phoenix’s most successful film at the U.S. box office—but it’s not there yet. Signs and Gladiator both enjoyed long, strong runs in theaters (Signs lasted 27 weeks and Gladiator lasted 24 weeks), so Joker will need to keep up its dominating numbers if it wants to come out No. 1 in Phoenix’s filmography.

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October 29, 2019 at 09:17PM