Joker has been tearing up the box office, but that doesn't always mean a film is profitable. While there are known financial factors such as the actual production budget, there are always hidden costs such as marketing, percentage shared with theaters, and so on. Luckily, when you make a film on a conservative budget, you also get to reap the benefits of a larger profit.
According to a new analysis, Joker is going to add around $464 million to Warner Bros. coffers. This accounts for the global theatrical haul as well as the TV and home entertainment releases. Should the movie continue to overperform, then the profit margin will climb even higher.
As Deadline points out, this puts Joker, from a profit standpoint, in some pretty heady company. Avengers: Infinity War, despite grossing $2.04 billion, only brought in around $500 million in profit for Marvel Studios due budget and promotion. On the DC side of things, Aquaman brought in a profit of $260.5 million off of its global haul of $1.14 billion at the box office.
While a budget between $55 to $70 million is not exactly a tiny - just look at the average budget of a Blumhouse horror film being around $5 million - for a comic book movie, it's unheard of. Warner Bros. may not take another run at the Joker as the main character, but one has to imagine more projects are coming. DC has an enormous roster of characters, and you have to imagine there is a lot of discussions right now about which of those could be trotted out in a similar fashion.
As Joker enters its fourth weekend, it is projected to regain the top position at the box office due to quieter competition. With a haul predicted of around $19 to $20 million.
