Joker Sets Records While The Kitchen Limps Along
Comic film adaptations are big dollars and we track how they do each week to see trends and what’s working and what’s not. With 2018’s films wrapped up, we’ve turned our focus squarely on 2019.
It was a given that Joker would top the weekend box office but a record-setting weekend wasn’t a given for the R-rated film.
Joker was the top film domestically and earned $234 million worldwide. With an estimated $93.5 million, the film had the largest October domestic opening ever. It beat Venom which earned $80.25 million. Justice League earned $93.8 million when it opened in November 2017 and when final receipts are in Joker could top that.
The film also earned the fourth largest domestic opening ever for an R-rated film. Its preview grosses of $13.3 million was also a record for October preview grosses.
The audience gave the film a “B+” CinemaScore with those under 35 giving it an “A-“. On various rating sites, the film enjoyed good reviews, especially from audiences.
Internationally, the film debuted in 73 markets where it earned $140.5 million. The film opens in France and Germany later this week.
This past week, Spider-Man: Far From Home earned an estimated $360,000 domestically. The movie’s domestic total now stands at $390.2 million. Internationally, the film added about $200,000 to its total. Internationally, the film has earned $740.9 million. Worldwide, the film has earned $1.131 billion. Having passed Captain Marvel, the movie would need to earn a bit less than $17 million to pass Aquaman in worldwide grosses.
The Kitchen, based on the Vertigo comic miniseries, continues to struggle at the box office but it’s earning dollars. Over the week, the film earned about $20,000 domestically for the week. It also earned $200,000 at the international box office. The movie has brought in just over $12.2 million domestically, $3.6 million internationally, and about $15.8 million worldwide. That’s far short of the $37 million reported budget. It’s also the worst-performing comic adaptation of the year.
2019 is the tale of two films for Warner Bros. Where they’ve found success in Joker, The Kitchen has been the exact opposite.
Here’s where 2019’s comic films stand as far as the actual numbers.
Total Domestic Gross: $2.126 billion
Total International Gross: $4.356 billion
Worldwide Gross: $6.482 billion
Total Reported Budgets: $1.289 billion
Total “Profit”: $5.194 billion
Average Domestic Gross: $212.6 million
Average International Gross: $435.6 million
Average: Worldwide Gross: $648.2 million
Average Budget: $128.9 million
Average Profit: $519.4 million
Below is where the films released stand when it comes to being compared to this year’s averages. The bold numbers are above average while those below average are not.
| Film | Studio | Domestic Gross |
| Avengers: Endgame | BV | $858,373,000 |
| Captain Marvel | BV | $426,829,839 |
| Spider-Man: Far From Home | Sony | $390,234,064 |
| Shazam! | WB | $140,371,656 |
| Joker | WB | $93,500,000 |
| Alita: Battle Angel | Fox | $85,710,210 |
| Dark Phoenix | Fox | $65,845,974 |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | FUNamation Films | $30,712,119 |
| Hellboy | Lions | $21,903,748 |
| The Kitchen | WB | $12,180,032 |
| Film | Studio | International Gross |
| Avengers: Endgame | BV | $1,937,901,401 |
| Spider-Man: Far From Home | Sony | $740,873,062 |
| Captain Marvel | BV | $701,444,955 |
| Alita: Battle Angel | Fox | $319,142,333 |
| Shazam! | WB | $224,100,000 |
| Dark Phoenix | Fox | $186,597,000 |
| Joker | WB | $140,500,000 |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | FUNamation Films | $83,390,702 |
| Hellboy | Lions | $18,882,732 |
| The Kitchen | WB | $3,600,000 |
| Film | Studio | Worldwide Gross |
| Avengers: Endgame | BV | $2,796,274,401 |
| Spider-Man: Far From Home | Sony | $1,131,107,126 |
| Captain Marvel | BV | $1,128,274,794 |
| Alita: Battle Angel | Fox | $404,852,543 |
| Shazam! | WB | $364,471,656 |
| Dark Phoenix | Fox | $252,442,974 |
| Joker | WB | $234,000,000 |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | FUNamation Films | $114,102,821 |
| Hellboy | Lions | $40,786,480 |
| The Kitchen | WB | $15,780,032 |
| Film | Studio | Gross-Budget |
| Avengers: Endgame | BV | $2,440,274,401 |
| Captain Marvel | BV | $976,274,794 |
| Spider-Man: Far From Home | Sony | $971,107,126 |
| Shazam! | WB | $264,471,656 |
| Alita: Battle Angel | Fox | $234,852,543 |
| Joker | WB | $179,000,000 |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | FUNamation Films | $105,602,821 |
| Dark Phoenix | Fox | $52,442,974 |
| Hellboy | Lions | -$9,213,520 |
| The Kitchen | WB | -$21,219,968 |
| Film | Studio | Gross/Budget |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | FUNamation Films | 13.42 |
| Avengers: Endgame | BV | 7.85 |
| Spider-Man: Far From Home | Sony | 7.07 |
| Captain Marvel | BV | 4.61 |
| Joker | WB | 4.25 |
| Shazam! | WB | 3.64 |
| Alita: Battle Angel | Fox | 2.38 |
| Dark Phoenix | Fox | 1.26 |
| Hellboy | Lions | 0.82 |
| The Kitchen | WB | 0.43 |
