The Clown Prince of Crime simply cannot be stopped at the box office. Case in point, as noted by Forbes, Joker is poised to become the most profitable comic book movie of all time. Considering that this was viewed as a risky move by Warner Bros. that the studio didn’t initially have a great deal of faith in, based on prior reports, that’s a truly staggering achievement. 

As of this writing, Joker has grossed $984 million at the global box office and is all but assured to cross the $1 billion mark. Many other comic book movies have crossed that milestone, with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame crossing the $2 billion mark. In the case of Endgame, it went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. But with Joker, the budget was much lower, reportedly $62.5 million, which is key. 

With that in mind, Joker will ultimately make 16 times its budget. By contrast, Endgame cost $250 million to produce. When coupled with its extremely high marketing budget, as well as costly backend deals for its massive cast, the profits disappear rather quickly. In the case of Joker, especially once home video, cable and streaming deals come into play, it’s expected to make more than $500 million in pure profit. As noted by analyst Scott Mendelson, here are some of the other most profitable comic book movies. 

“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),” Mendelson writes. 

Directed by Todd Philips and starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, Joker is an R-rated telling of the character’s origin story that takes place outside of the DCEU. Outside of the box office success, it’s also expected to be a major awards season contender. 

Here is the official synopsis for Joker. 

“Forever alone in a crowd, Arthur Fleck seeks connection. Yet, as he trods the sooted Gotham City streets and rides the graffitied mass transit rails of a hostile town teeming with division and dissatisfaction, Arthur wears two masks. One, he paints on for his day job as a clown. The other he can never remove; it’s the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel he’s a part of the world around him, and not the misunderstood man whom life is repeatedly beating down. Fatherless, Arthur has a fragile mother, arguably his best friend, who nicknamed him Happy, a moniker that’s fostered in Arthur a smile that hides the heartache beneath. But, when bullied by teens on the streets, taunted by suits on the subway, or simply teased by his fellow clowns at work, this social outlier only becomes even more out of sync with everyone around him.”

So what do you think? Will this open the door for a Joker sequel? Did the movie deserve this level of success? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!