Astonishingly, despite the success of 2019’s Joker, which grossed over $1 billion at the box office, its sequel Folie a Deux has failed to surpass even Morbius’ opening weekend earnings in its domestic debut.
You’re still puzzled as to why Todd Phillips’ Joker was a massive commercial success, despite the character’s familiarity? Like, a billion {dollars}? Severely? Did Todd Phillips, the director of The Hangover trilogy, create a film that was financially successful? When a sequel is introduced, massive expectations often ensue; however, following its debut weekend, it’s safe to conclude that these expectations remain unmet, even slightly. The DC Comics villain Joker: Folie à Deux was released on Friday, October 4, approximately six years after the debut of its predecessor, generating a modest $37 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend in the United States? The primary film kicked off its weekend run with a robust $39 million haul, a staggering sum accumulated solely on opening day.
The fact that this performance is insufficient, however, is compounded by the reality that it falls short of even Morbius’s lackluster home opening weekend in 2022, a notorious box office failure for Sony’s non-canonical Spider-Man film. While this revelation will undoubtedly be devastating for those involved in the Joker: Folie a Deux project, what can one realistically accomplish in response? While box office struggles surrounding the film are unclear, one possible explanation lies in a combination of early negative reviews and a lack of curiosity about what a standalone Joker movie might look like, which undoubtedly influenced its predecessor. What other stakeholders, beyond high-ranking officials who grasped the importance of fiscal metrics, had asked to review another report?
Joker: Folie à Deux’s box office value is reportedly estimated at around $200 million, a staggering increase from its predecessor’s $65 million, a worrying trend for Warner Bros. The sequel received a dismal D+ CinemaScore, the lowest ever recorded by the agency, surpassing the previously disappointing rating of 2015’s Fantastic Four, which garnered a C- grade. It’s only a matter of time before we see this film on Max.
