With Joker opening in theaters everywhere this weekend, the upcoming DC film has already broken records for advance ticket sales in October.
According to a press release from online movie ticketing site Fandango, Joker has dethroned last year's Venom and Halloween to become its biggest October pre-selling film of all time. Fandango conducted a poll of 1,000 audience members interested in the film, with 93% looking forward to Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the titular villain while 86% were interested in seeing a grittier, R-rated DC film. Another 83% of those polled were interested in additional DC origin stories on film.
"Joker is the most talked-about film of the season," Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis said in a written statement. "Joaquin Phoenix delivers a memorably disturbing performance in a comic book origin story unlike anything you’ve ever seen."
Early reviews for the film have given it a fresh certification on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, while CBR's own advance review of the film praised Phoenix's performance, yet also criticizing the overall story as "an empty vessel."
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais and Shea Whigham. The film arrives in theaters Oct. 4.