Two new official movie posters for “Joker” just dropped, and they’re quite menacing.
What happened: Fandango released the pair of movie posters Thursday. The first one shows star Joaquin Phoenix sporting clown makeup, but it appears as though the paint is dripping. The second poster shows the duality of the Joker character. The text on the second poster reads, “Put on a happy face.”
Box office: Will Todd Phillips’ “Joker” laugh its way into box office history? It’s possible. Early tracking data show that the film will make around $82 million in the domestic box office for the Oct. 4-6 weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- However, other experts predict it could earn $77 million. One last prediction suggests the film could earn $87 million.
- “Venom” currently holds the record for an October debut with a $80.2 million earning last year.
The trouble: “Joker” may not reach its full earning potential because of its R rating, though, according to the Deseret News. Experts agree that a PG-13 rating would help it secure box office records.
- For one, the film has been criticized for being the wrong film for the moment. Variety reporter Brent Lang wrote that the film could be controversial when it hits theaters because it asks moviegoers to sympathize “with a homicidal loner at a time when America and the rest of the world are plagued by gun violence.”
- “That all but guarantees that ‘Joker’ will be a topic of fierce debate at Toronto ... as critics and audiences grapple over the questions of whether it’s a brilliant piece of art or a danger to society,” according to Variety.
- Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine says the film is an example of “the emptiness of our culture.”
- “But it’s not as if we don’t know how this pathology works: In America, there’s a mass shooting or attempted act of violence by a guy like Arthur practically every other week,” she wrote. “And yet we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Arthur, the troubled lamb; he just hasn’t had enough love. Before long, he becomes a vigilante folk hero — his first signature act is to kill a trio of annoying Wall Street spuds while riding the subway, which inspires the masses to don clown masks and march enthusiastically around the city with ‘Kill the Rich!’ placards.”