It looks like "Joker" is going to have the last laugh.
Despite the fact that director Todd Phillips' dramatic take on the legendary super villain is being kicked around by many critics (it has a 69% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and the reports of police closely monitoring theaters as the movie hit screens Thursday, the Warner Bros. release is already breaking box-office records.
Thursday preview screenings of "Joker" brought in $13.3 million. That's a record for the month of October, beating out Sony's "Venom," which opened last year with $10 million in previews and went on to have an opening weekend domestic total of $80 million, which is also a record.
"Joker" is projected to beat that figure and have the biggest opening weekend ever for October.
That's not bad for a movie that is rated R and has been the subject of some negative pieces for its violent material.
And coming off the awful release of "The Goldfinch" (it has only earned $8.2 million worldwide to date on a $45 million budget), Warner Bros. needs a big win. "Joker" is playing on over 4,300 screens in North America, a record for an October release, showing just how bullish the studio is in the movie making back its north of $60 million budget this weekend.
Things are also good internationally, as "Joker" has brought in $24.6 million in the last two days in 47 markets.
