Joker is the first R-rated movie to gross $1 billion worldwide

Since its release last month, Todd Phillips’ Joker has been an unprecedented success, capturing the attentions of audiences around the world with its gritty take on the origin of Batman’s most famous nemesis. Now, Entertainment Weekly reports that it’s the first R-rated movie to make over $1 billion at the box office.

I see a sequel in our future.

Crossing the $billion mark is impressive for any movie — less than 50 have done it — but it’s particularly noteworthy in the case of Joker because: 1) the movie cost $55 million to make, which is a lot of money but slim when compared it to the likes of Avengers: Endgame and Avatar, which are respectively the first and second highest-grossing movies of all time, and; 2) Joker hasn’t even opened in China, a huge film market. On top of that, there’s a lot of Oscar buzz around Joaquin Phoenix’s headlining performance. The movie is rolling in success.

All that said, when adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind is still the most profitable film of all time by a decent margin, at least domestically. So watch out, Scarlett O’Hara: the Joker is coming for you.

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