Joker became the first R-rated film in cinema history to cross the 1 billion dollar mark.
Todd Phillips won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In his acceptance speech, he thanked Warner Bros. and DC for stepping out of their comfort zones and taking a bold step. He also addressed Joaquin Phoenix: "This film wouldn't exist without him. The strongest, brightest and most open-minded lion I know. Thank you for trusting me with your crazy talent."
Among their sources of inspiration, the producers cite Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke" comic book and Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The King of Comedy.
In September 2019, Todd Phillips said comic book fans should know that Joaquin Phoenix's Joker and Robert Pattinson's Batman will never meet. He added that this doesn't mean Pattinson won't encounter the Joker, only that it won't be his version.
With its 55 million dollar budget, it became the lowest-budget film to gross 1 billion dollars worldwide.
Warner Bros. initially wanted Martin Scorsese to direct, with Leonardo DiCaprio as Arthur and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin. However, DiCaprio was committed to Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood, and Scorsese was on The Irishman. De Niro, having finished his scenes in The Irishman, was able to take a role in this film.
Joaquin Phoenix was warm to the idea of a low-budget comic book character study: "It feels unique; it has its own world and it might be the thing that scares you the most." Initially he didn't think the film should be about the Joker, but when he couldn't find another good character, he abandoned the idea. He wasn't interested again until Todd Phillips put the project together.
The film's premiere at the Venice Film Festival received an eight-minute standing ovation.
It became the first R-rated DC Comics film ten years after Watchmen (2009).
Warner Bros. initially hesitated over concerns that the film was too dark and violent and would damage the Joker's image for children. However, a year later, with Todd Phillips's persuasion efforts, it continued with the project. Violent R-rated DC adaptations were not new for Warner Bros.; they had allocated significant budgets to V for Vendetta and Watchmen.
In a scene cut from the leaked script, Arthur tells Sophie that as a child he cut a small smile into his face to scare bullies. At the end of the film there was a flashback in which Arthur reopens and widens these wounds with a piece of glass from the car wreck. Sir Christopher Nolan asked for the scene to be removed to avoid similarities with his own Joker in The Dark Knight. Instead, Arthur draws a smile on his face with his own blood. The face-cutting scene was finally added to Joker: Folie à Deux after Nolan left Warner Bros.
Todd Phillips confirmed that Arthur did not kill Sophie and her child. He explained a cut scene in which Sophie watches Arthur on The Murray Franklin Show and said he was surprised that some thought he killed her.
The original script leak had a different ending: after killing Murray, Arthur escapes, rebels enter Wayne Manor and execute Thomas and Martha Wayne. Bruce hides and is found by Alfred. Arthur evades the police for a few days, appears at the Waynes' funeral, and while being chased is hit by a car and captured.
In an earlier version of the script, Sophie had gone out with Arthur out of pity and was in a romantic relationship with someone else. When Arthur discovers this, he delivers a long monologue to her and tells her to watch Murray Franklin's show that fateful night. In this version, Sophie is shown watching the show with her child, meaning she is not killed.
Todd Phillips doesn't see Joker as a big departure from comedy: "It's different in tone, but ultimately it's storytelling. I was influenced by the character studies of the 70s, why shouldn't such a film be made in the comic book world? I thought an in-depth study of a character like the Joker, with a great actor, could be something truly special."
Thanks to his participation deal, Todd Phillips earned as much as 100 million dollars from this film; as of November 2019, the film had surpassed 1 billion dollars worldwide. After the 2020 estimates, Phillips ultimately earned 70 million dollars.
Following Justice League's disappointing performance, Walter Hamada took over DC film production in January 2018. Hamada reviewed the films in development, cancelling some and advancing others. Joker was expected to begin shooting in late 2018 with a small budget. In June, Robert De Niro was being considered for a supporting role. The deal with Joaquin Phoenix was finalized in July 2018 after Todd Phillips's four months of persuasion efforts. Warner Bros. immediately gave the green light, named the film "Joker" and set an October 4, 2019 release date. The film was described as "not just a harsh character study, but also a broader cautionary tale, as the exploration of a man ignored by society."
Todd Phillips on the script process: "After finishing the script, convincing new people of this vision was a year-long process. There were emails saying 'Are you aware we sell Joker pajamas at Target?' There were countless obstacles and you had to overcome them one by one. At the time I cursed them every day. But then, putting it in perspective, I have to say 'They were pretty brave to do this.'"
Todd Phillips became the first director to receive a Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards for a comic book film.
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver wrote Joker over roughly a year during 2017. According to producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff, the script took time to get approved because of content concerns. Phillips said there were "countless obstacles" due to the character's visibility. Although the script's themes could reflect modern society, the film was not intended to be political.
One of Todd Phillips and Scott Silver's first references was the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs. Phillips says that the Joker never having an origin story in the comics gave them great freedom, and that they pushed each other every day to "come up with something completely crazy."
Phillips stated that the film's first cut was 155 minutes long and that multiple different versions exist. Promotional photos showing deleted scenes and some frames seen in trailers are still available.
Following the film's success, Phillips announced that he would write and direct the sequel.
Before its release, an opening-weekend gross of between 50 and 80 million dollars was expected. Despite attacks from the mainstream media, these figures rose with positive word-of-mouth reactions, and the film earned 96 million dollars on its opening, reaching nearly double the estimates.
An alternative ending had Arthur confessing to his therapist at Arkham that he himself had killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, leaving Bruce crying and then killing the child as well. This ending was cut because Bruce's death meant Batman would never exist.
According to Phillips, the reason the film was edited for so long was the "18 trillion versions" that resulted from Joaquin Phoenix doing things very differently each time.
Phillips says he made the film because he loves villains, and that the question "Why is he like this? What made him this way?" is fun. He states that the film is not a grand statement about today's world, but thematically questions what makes a person this way, and that he loves the Joker's understanding of chaos.
In its sixth week, the film reached 1.018 billion dollars worldwide, surpassing The Dark Knight's (2008) record of 1.008 billion dollars. However, this figure has not been adjusted for inflation.
The film was banned from broadcast on Indian television in 2020 on the grounds that it was "too violent," despite 58 scenes being cut.
Phoenix recounted that during filming, a scene he considered one of the best was cut. Phillips said that deleted scenes are deleted for a reason, that he hates extended cuts, and that he will never show a deleted scene. The scene in question involved a second meeting between Arthur and his co-worker Randall after Arthur is fired; Phillips stated that cutting the scene was "heartbreaking" but necessary for the film's flow.
The film became the second R-rated DC production to feature the Joker, after Batman: The Killing Joke (2016).
It became the third film to gross 1 billion dollars worldwide before opening in China. The first two films were Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008), respectively. Later, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) were also added to this list.
It became the first film since Avatar (2009) to stay at number one at the UK box office for 6 consecutive weeks.
Upon passing 1 billion dollars in gross, Phillips thanked fans on Instagram. He prepared a 20-second video featuring clips from the film and included fan quotes styled as film critic comments.
The film received 11 nominations at the 2020 Oscars, making it the most-nominated film of that year.
Director Guillermo del Toro stated that he was a big fan of the film.
Before production, Warner Bros. president Toby Emmerich tried to discourage Phillips by cutting the budget. However, Phillips persisted and Emmerich reluctantly allowed the production to go ahead.
When the trailer for Cruella (2021) was released, many people compared it to Joker due to similarities in tone and atmosphere. Comedian Matthew Highton combined the audio of the Joker trailer with Cruella footage to highlight the similarities.
In the 51 years since the MPAA created the R rating, no film with that rating had ever grossed 1 billion dollars. The PG-13 rating had been introduced in 1984 after films such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins contained dark elements despite being rated PG. Fourteen years after the creation of PG-13, Titanic (1997) became the first film to pass 1 billion dollars with that rating.
While Warner Bros. gave Christopher Nolan full support for the Joker in The Dark Knight, Phillips had a very different experience on this film. In an interview with Michael Moore, Phillips explained that with the management changes at Warner and DC, Walter Hamada was brought in, that Hamada did not understand the film, but that because the budget was small the risk was low, and they were allowed to make the film on the logic that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Before its release, the mainstream media created an intense wave of suspicion and anger that the film was "too dangerous" and would "incite violence." The controversy grew so large that Warner Bros. barred most mainstream media outlets from attending the premiere to prevent unwanted questions and incidents involving the cast and crew.
It became the first comic book adaptation film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Juan Carlos Hernandez, who was arrested for robbery and murder at a 2019 Halloween event in Reno, Nevada, claimed in custody that his name was Arthur Fleck. He had been dressed like the film's Joker while committing the crime.
It was included in Steven Schneider's '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list.
The second comic book film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar; the first was Black Panther (2018).
After the film's success, artist Joe Simko created a Garbage Pail Kid trading card as a tribute to Joaquin Phoenix and his character Arthur Fleck/Joker. The card, titled 'Walking Joaquin', depicts a comical fall on the Joker stairs with makeup scattered around.
The film's failure to be released in China was unusual because the Chinese film board had no political objection. Censors found the film too explicit, and Warner Bros. refused to offer an edited version for the Chinese market; this resembled the rejection of Deadpool three years earlier.
Its $96 million opening weekend was the best opening for an R-rated film in 2019, surpassing It: Chapter Two's $92 million opening. Both films were Warner Bros. productions.
Warner Bros., which had little confidence in the film, brought in Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures as partners in the production. When the film unexpectedly surpassed $1 billion worldwide, the profits were shared among the three companies.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jared Leto was upset that Warner Bros. greenlit a Joker film separate from his own Joker; he complained to his agents and tried to persuade Warner's top management to cancel the project. Warner announced a spin-off for Leto's Joker in 2018, but nothing came of it. After the film's release, a source said, 'How do you play Joker after Joaquin Phoenix? This ends Leto's Joker era.' Leto portrayed Joker one last time in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).
Fight Club (1999) director David Fincher disliked the film and criticized it as a corporate Hollywood franchise film that steals from other works: 'No one would look at that material and think let's take Travis Bickle and Rupert Pupkin and combine them, then trap him in a betrayal of the mentally ill and earn a billion dollars.' He added: 'The five big studios don't want to do anything that won't make them a billion dollars. They don't want to be in the mid-priced, challenging content business. And that cuts off the kinds of films I make.'
The first live-action Batman spin-off in cinemas since Suicide Squad (2016).
It held the record for the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time for five years, until Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
The only one of Bradley Cooper's nine Academy Award nominations in which he did not appear as an actor; he was one of three producers nominated in the Best Picture category.
Martin Scorsese confirmed that he did not watch the entire film and had no plans to. He had said the previous year that he did not consider superhero films 'cinema'; although fans saw it as hypocrisy that his name was attached to a superhero film, it was confirmed that Warner Bros. needed Scorsese's film crew for the New York production. Scorsese told The New York Times, 'I saw clips of it. I understood. It's fine.'
The fifth comic book film to be nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award; after Ghost World (2001), American Splendor (2003), A History of Violence (2005) and Logan (2017).
After the film's unexpected success and earlier hesitations, Warner Bros. stated that they would take more risks on R-rated film projects.
The film's success partly inspired directors Zack Snyder and James Gunn to create their own R-rated DC films, Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and The Suicide Squad (2021).
It was chosen as the best film of 2019 by IMDb.com.
Hildur Guðnadóttir became the fourth woman to win the Best Music Academy Award; Marilyn Bergman (Yentl, 1983), Rachel Portman (Emma, 1996) and Anne Dudley (The Full Monty, 1997) had won previously.
Joker, released in 2019, was the second R-rated comic book adaptation of that year; the first was Hellboy.
Joker, Todd Phillips's first drama film, is also the director's second crime film after War Dogs.
When Warner Bros. wanted to cancel the film, marketing executive Blair Rich fought hard. Before leaving the studio, Rich counted Joker and It: Chapter Two among her greatest successes.
A little over a month after its release, Joker crossed the $1 billion mark.
In an interview in early 2020, director Joe Russo said that due to his intense shooting schedule he had not been able to see the film in cinemas, but that he loved it when he finally did. Russo described the film as 'a beautiful piece of cinema' and drew attention to its themes of existential loneliness and emotions.
Producer Bradley Cooper was heavily involved in post-production, particularly in the sound mixing.
Joaquin Phoenix earned approximately $4.5 million for the role of Arthur Fleck/Joker.
Joker became the fourth DC film to gross $1 billion worldwide, after The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and Aquaman.
The film is the first live-action Batman-themed production to receive an R rating.
Speaking to Good Morning America a month before the 2020 Oscars, Todd Phillips said, 'The audience came and the film became theirs.'
Joker is the sixth film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and surpass $1 billion, after Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Avatar, Toy Story 3 and Black Panther.
As of mid-2020, the film had earned over $830 million globally, including cinema rentals, home video and television.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Warner Bros. spent $120 million on the film's international marketing and advertising.
By mid-2020, Joker had grossed $1.07 billion, overtaking Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.
Joker surpassed Venom's October opening record of $80.25 million with $96 million.
In 2019, the first film starring Robert De Niro was Joker; the second was The Irishman, released a month later. Both films won major awards.
The film was released 80 years after Batman was introduced in comic books. The character first appeared in May 1939 in issue 27 of Detective Comics.
Joker became Warner Bros.' seventh film to surpass $1 billion worldwide ($1.074 billion). The first six films: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Aquaman, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Dark Knight. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone followed it with $1 billion when it was released in China in 2020.
In 2020, Joker became the best-selling home entertainment film in the United Kingdom. It sold more than 1.4 million copies across disc, electronic sell-through and transactional video on demand.
It was the last collaboration of Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips' producing partnership before it ended in 2021.
As of April 2026, it ranks fourth on Letterboxd with 6.4 million viewer diaries; ahead of it are Interstellar (7.2 million), Fight Club and Barbie (7.1 million) and Parasite (6.8 million). It shares the same rank with The Truman Show.
It overtook Meet the Fockers as Robert De Niro's highest-grossing film.
It is one of five films to be in the IMDb Top 250 and be nominated for a Razzie; the others are The Shining, The Thing, Scarface and Batman Begins. None of them won the award.
It is the second consecutive comic book film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score (after Black Panther). It is the sixth comic book film to be nominated: Superman, Men in Black, Road to Perdition, The Adventures of Tintin and Black Panther.
Independent directors Ana Lily Amirpour, Kelly Fremon Craig and Alex Ross Perry are among the film's unexpected fans.
It is the fifth highest-grossing drama at the domestic box office: after Titanic, The Passion of the Christ, Michael (2026) and American Sniper.
Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing film to win an Oscar in an acting category. The previous record belonged to The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger's Joker.
After Superman, The Dark Knight and Black Panther, it is the fourth comic book film to win the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
It is the fifth film to surpass $200 million worldwide in its opening weekend without opening in China: after Fifty Shades of Grey, Deadpool, Suicide Squad and Deadpool 2. The Dark Knight missed it by $300,000.
It is the lowest-rated film to receive a B+ from CinemaScore and gross over $1 billion worldwide. The previous record belonged to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
It ranks ninth among the 250 highest-grossing films of all time; ahead of it are Avengers: Endgame, Infinity War, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Return of the King, Jurassic Park and The Dark Knight Rises.
It received eleven Oscar nominations, while its sequel Joker: Folie à Deux received none. This is the record for the most nominations for a film whose sequel received zero; it is shared with Chinatown (11 nominations, sequel The Two Jakes zero) and Terms of Endearment (11 nominations, sequel The Evening Star zero).