Joker: Folie À Deux Turns Box Office Into Tragedy

Despite originally being projected to haul in anywhere from $50 million to $70 million, the domestic box office debut for Joker: Folie À Deux only managed to bring in just $40 million, well below even the most conservative projections.

The underperformance of the Joker sequel is surprising, considering that the film brought in $7 million alone during its Thursday preview showings.

The $40 million box office debut for Joker: Folie À Deux is especially sobering for Warner Bros., considering the film’s budget was $190 million, well beyond the cost of Joker, which had a budget of $55 million.

Despite the draw of stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, audiences simply failed to show up for the comic book film, which was marketed as a genre-defying sequel to one of the most financially successful films in the last 15 years.

One of the primary reasons for the poor box office performance of Joker: Folie À Deux is the fact that while critics have universally panned the comic book movie, audiences around the country have also felt that the film has left them with a bad taste in their mouths.

According to CinemaScore, which acts as an exit poll for people leaving the screening of a film, audiences have expressed their overall unhappiness with Joker: Folie À Deux, giving the film a D rating. This is the first time a Hollywood comic book movie has earned such a low score.

Failing to meet box office projections is never fun for any film, but when it fails to hit its mark with critics or audiences, it could spell trouble for the future viability of the film.

Based on 264 ratings, Joker: Folie À Deux currently sports a 33% Rotten Tomatoes score. Not to be outdone, the film has an even more embarrassing 30% audience score, highlighting just how disliked the film among moviegoers.

While a $40 million domestic box office haul for Joker: Folie À Deux isn’t enough to completely write off the film. The lackluster numbers and putrid critic response will likely give Warner Bros. enough reason to balk at the possibility of ever greenlighting a third film.

Despite the poor domestic box office performance, Joker: Folie À Deux is faring much better overseas, raking in over $80 million at the global box office, bringing its entire worldwide total to just over $120 million.

But even with the positive news coming from the global box office, Joker: Folie À Deux is still lagging far behind the box office debut of Joker.

In 2019, the film detailing the fall of Arthur Fleck and the rise of Joker struck a chord with audiences in America, bringing in a staggering $96.2 million during its opening weekend.

Joker would ultimately dominate at the box office, reaching the $1 billion mark and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film until being recently unseated by Deadpool & Wolverine.

Source: Comic Book Club Live