10 Upcoming Movies That Could Massively Overperform At The Box Office
5. Joker
On the surface, a successful comic book movie shouldn't be considered an 'overperformance'. However, given DC's recent track-record and the type of movie that Joker appears to be, that's exactly what an incredibly successful run at the box office would be considered.
The upcoming thriller is an origin story of DC's most famous supervillain, the Joker, and stars Jaoquin Phoenix in the titular role. There's an air of intrigue surrounding it that none of the other upcoming comic book movies possess, and it all has to do with the gritty re-imagining of the character's origins (and whether or not Phoenix can make it work).
This standalone grounded take does run the risk of alienating the core fanbase and that, along with DC's track-record, has made a lot of people cautious when predicting its success. This is definitely an understandable outlook, but the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first trailer proves that we really shouldn't be underestimating this one.
While it is true that Warner Bros. has encountered trouble with their less-than-stellar DC films in recent years - with the DCEU's endgame, Justice League, flopping hard - Joker has the advantage of existing in a world of its own, outside of the problematic DCEU - an Elseworld if you will. That, Phoenix's intriguing performance and the adoration for The Joker in general could very well be more than enough to carry Joker to unexpected heights and, in the process, continue DC's big-screen redemption.