Who wants a Joker vs. Deadpool showdown? I’d pay for that. I bet we all would. Actually, we kinda already have, because the two wacko comic book characters, who I guess we can both call antiheroes now (?), are squaring off for box office supremacy.
According to THR, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is, shockingly, headed to becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all-time. That’s so crazy Arthur Fleck should feel right at home. Its competition at the top of the chart? Deadpool, which took in $783.1M in 2016.
Joker was released less than a month ago and already has $737M worldwide, with projections it could go as high as $900M. Whether it reaches that incredible height doesn’t really matter. The more R-rated superhero movies there are, the more studios will be willing to make them. Deadpool, Logan, Deadpool 2 (which made $785M but part of that was in PG-13), and now Joker have proven they can be done successfully.
Unlike those other films, Joker had the benefit of huge buzz coming out of its Cannes premiere, which has led to an Oscars bump as people see it as an awards contender. It’s also undeniable that curiosity over the controversial film played a big part.
