Joker is firmly on track to outpace other R-rated and similarly released films from recent years in presales alone, according to Atom Tickets. Directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, the film will serve as a wholly standalone character study via the prism of DC's most infamous villain. After a lifetime of abuse and ridicule, Joker sees struggling stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) spiral towards new depths of madness and ultimately lash out at the society of Gotham City circa 1981. All under the guise of the new, emerging persona known as The Joker.
The film has already started riding a wave of acclaim and success ahead of its public release. Upon its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Joker received an 8-minute standing ovation and ultimately won the festival's Golden Lion award. According to many, it could very much end up as a contender for a Best Picture nomination at the next Academy Awards. Such predictions have emerged in the wake of an increasingly vocal backlash against the film - with some believing it could inspire a wave of similarly violent acts from certain members of the public. So prevalent have the concerns become that Joker-specific cosplay has been banned from theaters, some theaters - such as the one in Aurora that experienced a tragedy in 2012 - won't screen Joker at all. Even the U.S. military has reportedly been warned regarding the potential for such acts. Regardless, it would appear do have done little to assuage people's eagerness to see the film.
Atom Tickets have offered an update regarding Joker's ticket presales. Despite having a relatively small sales window, beginning pre-release on September 23, they're still doing exceedingly well. Joker currently has the 2nd best pre-sales of any R-rated movie this year, falling behind only John Wick: Chapter 3 - which had its violence recently compared directly to Joker's. It's already surpassed It Chapter Two, Jordan Peele's Us, and Glass, which had a similar time frame for advanced ticket sales. Even more significantly, Joker's success in presales is already outpacing Venom - all but confirming that it'll break the October record held by Sony's own comic book offering.
The news has lined up with Atom's own recent poll, which, in terms of passionate anticipation, had Joker second only to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Equally, Phoenix came second in a survey of the leading men that fans were most eager to see on the big screen this year. Phoenix, like the film, emerged as the solid runner-up, with Dwayne Johnson landing the top spot for his role of Spencer in Jumanji: The Next Level. The announcement also couldn't be more timely, with a new video going viral online that has Phoenix's Joker dancing to Venom's own soundtrack.
DC and Warner Bros. have taken a few hits over the last few years, most notably in the underwhelming reactions to Justice League. As a result, they opted to switch tracks and focus on more standalone (if occasionally still loosely connected) fare. Such tactics already paid off with the hugely successful box office return of Aquaman and the even more positive reception to the Zachary Levi-starring Shazam! Still, the numbers indicate that the upward swing is far from over and, with Joker, they may be about to experience their biggest combination of commercial and critical success yet.
Source: Atom Tickets
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