Not one bit surprising at all.
There has been a lot of hype about Joker, the Todd Phillips movie that was released at the end of last week, and for good reason too.
First of all, Heath Ledger’s performance of the character in The Dark Knight is largely seen as one of the greatest acting performances of all time, so people were interested to see if Joaquin Phoenix could compare.
Secondly, there has been a large amount of media attention directed towards the movie’s release, with fears over audience safety, and many complaining that the movie’s violence was too graphic.
But it seems as though any issues the movie may have faced have not had an affect, as it’s smashing box office records, and also getting rave reviews.
According to Variety, the R-rated comic-book movie raked in a total of $93.5 million in its opening weekend, making it the biggest October launch of all time, smashing 2018’s Venom, which brought in $80 million.
Joker also took home the top prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and will almost certainly be in the conversation when the Academy Awards roll around.
You can read JOE’s full review of Joker here, where we described it as “the best movie of the year”.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
