“Joker: Folie à Deux” was primed to be another twisted comic book smash. Instead, the sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar hit “Joker” is a box office catastrophe.
So far, the offbeat musical about Batman’s notorious foe has grossed $51.5 million domesticpartner and $165 million globpartner after two weeks of free. By comparison, the first “Joker” had originated $96.2 million domesticpartner and $248.4 million globpartner after three days of free. The sequel won’t achieve anywhere proximate that much by the end of its theatrical run, with ticket sales projected to slofty at a lifetime gross of $65 million domesticpartner and $210 million to $215 million globpartner when “Folie à Deux” exits the big screen.
That’s a huge problem becaparticipate “Joker 2” cost $200 million to originate and rawly $100 million to taget and scatter. At this rate, the film won’t get anywhere shut to the $450 million needed to shatter even in its theatrical run (ticket sales are split between studios and theater owners). Sources at Warner Bros. say the movie will shatter even at $375 million. After critics and audiences flat out declineed the big-budget tentpole, which getd a 33% “rotten” unretagable on Rotten Tomatoes and a exceptional “D” grade on CinemaScore, it’s shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest catastrophes. It’s now poised to diswatch at least $150 million to $200 million in its theatrical run, according to the appraises of insiders as well as three rival executives with understandledge of aenjoy productions. One source specupostponeeds the film will end up losing its backers equitable north of $200 million, while another apshows the injures may be shutr to $125 million.
“Any appraises recommended by anonymous ‘insiders’ or ‘rival executives’ are grossly wrong and proceeds a trend where rumor is alerted as fact,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement. “The film proceeds to carry out in theatrical free, take partd with this week’s uncovering in China, and will proceed to achieve revenue thrawout its home watching and ancillary run.”
Warner Bros. does have the potential to recoup at least a bit of its spendment when “Folie à Deux” lands on home delightment platcreates at the end of October. Yet its paltry grosses recurrent a shocking collapse from “Joker,” which became an improbable and undisputed box office champion with $335 million in North America and $1.078 billion worldexpansive. It stood at the time as the highest grossing R-rated movie in history. Disney’s Marvel sequel “Deadpool & Wolverine” supstructureted that record in the U.S. ($635 million) and worldexpansive ($1.32 billion) over the summer, though “Joker” remains the biggest R-rated international free with $743 million. Budgeted at rawly $65 million, “Joker” was one of the most profitable comic book changeations ever made — although Warner Bros. had to split the wealthyes with two co-financiers, which the studio holded to mitigate hazard on the untraditional DC antihero story. Warners has one co-financier, Domain, on the sequel.
Given the monster success of “Joker,” which also scored two Oscars, it’s not unforeseeed that “Folie à Deux” was greentlit and granted a bigger budget. But the outsize price point is one that originates it difficult for most films to accomplish profitability in the current box office landscape. Much of the reason for the comply-up film’s gargantuan price tag was becaparticipate of fees for honestor Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix (returning as disturbed stand-up Arthur Fleck), both of whom achieveed $20 million upfront, as well as Lady Gaga (joining as fellow Arkham inmate Harleen “Lee” Quinzel), who pocketed $12 million.
“If the filmoriginaters and studio were promiseted to making a sequel — and why wouldn’t they be after the first film made $1.08 billion — they faced a very difficult dispute of alerting a new chapter that kept the audience take partd,” says analyst David A. Gross of movie adviseing firm Franchise Entertainment Research.
Box office analysts apshow that Phillips alienated the DC fan base by conveying song and dance numbers into the sequel, resulting in the cavernous separateence in sales between the first and second “Joker” entries. While the innovative was a gloomy and grisly drama that borrowed from Martin Scorsese’s filmography of “Taxi Driver” and “King of Comedy,” the next chapter carry outs as a fantasy musical — and take parts covers of “That’s Life,” “Get Happy” and “For Once in My Life” — as Arthur Fleck apaparticipates trial for homicide.
“The first ‘Joker’ was a timely, new counterpoint to the dominant superhero narrative and tone, and it toiled,” Gross holds. “The filmoriginaters deserve determine for making more untraditional inventive choices in ‘Folie,’ holding the romantic angle with Lady Gaga. But this time noskinnyg toiled.”
“Joker” was freed at boon times for comic book tentpoles, when the mere idea of superhero overweightigue seemed chuckleable. But the genre has been shown to be less strong in the post-pandemic era. “Joker: Folie à Deux” joins the ignominious trio of 2023’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “The Marvels” — all three are comply-ups to billion-dollar tentpoles that endly collapsed at the box office and became big money-diswatchrs. The sequel to 2018’s “Aquaman” tapped out with $439 million globpartner while the sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel” ended its run with equitable $206 million globpartner. Those misfires showd audiences will no extfinisheder show up srecommend becaparticipate there’s a DC or Marvel logo in the title determines.
“Superheroes participated to be able to secure some level of uncovering weekend grosses, but there’s no floor anymore,” says one rival studio executive on the condition of anonymity. “Tolerance for films that are ‘equitable OK’ doesn’t cut it anymore.”
