There certainly has been a lot of hype for the new Joker movie. The standalone DC movie, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous Clown Prince of Crime, has intrigued a lot of comic book fans, with its references to classic Batman graphic novels such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, and Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth.
But the movie hasn't just taken inspiration from its source material: it's also been heavily influenced by the works of Martin Scorcese; with Taxi Drivers' and The King of Comedy's protagonists as clear antecedents to the character of Arthur Fleck/The Joker.
Take a look at this outtake from the filming of Joker:Now, the Todd Philips-directed movie has managed to smash a major record, and now boasts the biggest October box office opening ever; beating last year's standalone Spider-man villain movie Venom. TIME Magazine reports that Joker grossed an estimated $93.5 million in ticket sales from 4,374 screens in North America, and made a total of $234 million globally.
The movie has also had a polarizing reception with critics and audiences alike, with some loving its dark tone and introspective themes, while others have lambasted the movie for seemingly sympathising with a mass-murderer. One thing is universal though: the praise for Phoenix's compelling and chilling performance.
The movie received an eight-minute-long standing ovation from audiences at its premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, where it managed to win the Golden Lion, the festival's most prestigious prize.
However, a number of people have criticised the movie through its oblique connection to the 2012 Aurora Shooting, in which engineering student James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a movie theatre in Colorado during a showing of the Christian Bale-directed The Dark Knight Rises.
Watch the final trailer for the Joker movie below:Holmes was sentenced to 12 consecutive life sentences plus 3,318 years without parole, despite making a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Holmes also dyed his hair orange and made several references to the character of the Joker during later interviews; although experts dismissed these references as being shallow appeals to his insanity plea.
