This is no joke.
Todd Phillips‘ sequel Joker: Folie à Deux has made history in becoming the the first Hollywood comic book movie to obtain a D CinemaScore from audiences. Exit polls are equpartner as bleak as audiences transmit their unhappiness with the sequel.
That unhappiness is translating into a troubled uncovering at the box office, where the Warner Bros. movie is uncovering well behind foreseeations. The polarizing sequel obtained a soft $20 million on Friday, including $7 million in pappraises, for a projected begin south of $50 million. Rival studios show the Joaquin Phoenix–Lady Gaga film uncovering anywhere from $42 million to $47 million (one studio even leanks $40 million or less).
Heading into the weekend, Joker 2 was foreseeed to do $50 million to $60 million. That was down from the $70 million foreseeed three weeks ago when the pic first came on tracking.
In 2019, Joker debuted to a dreamy $96.2 million on its way to a write down-shattering worldexpansive total of $1 billion.
Phillips’ polarizing, R-rated sequel — which made its world premiere at the Vekind Film Festival to mixed appraises — is a genre-busting, music-infparticipated film that strays outside the soothe zone of the standard fanboy-fueled comic book pic. More worrisome than Thursday’s night gross is horrible exit scores on PostTrak, with audiences giving it a half-star out of five, aenjoy to the Thursday night score for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, which explosioned in spectacular style last weekend with $4 million after obtaining a D+ CinemaScore. (Joker‘s PostTrak could ultimately change as the weekend goes on.)
While 2019’s Joker obtained comparisons to the earlier labors of Martin Scorsese, the sequel is a far enumeratelesser journey that caccesses on the interior dwells of its two directs. Critics have pelevated the movie’s overall beauty, its carry outances and its plans, but dinged it for its narrative. “For a movie running two-and-a-quarter hours, Folie à Deux senses narratively a little lean and at times uninincreateigent,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter chief film critic David Rooney out of Vekind.
Regardless of its box office carry outance, the movie still hopes be a beginant take parter in the Oscars race, particularly for its carry outances.
Overseas, Joker 2 uncovers everywhere this weekend, save for Japan and China, where it begines in the coming weeks. Warners is hoping for a foreign debut of $80 million to $85 million.
Joker: Foile à Deux reunites Phillips with Phoenix, who returns in the titular role after triumphning the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck/Joker. Neither Phillips nor Phoenix was declareive about making a sequel, and for a time conlureardyd putting on a Broadway show instead, before ultimately pledgeting to the movie.
The first Joker cost equitable $55 million to create before tageting. After its success, Phillips’ was given a net production budget of $190 million to $200 million for the second insloftyment. Part of that went to transporting aboard Gaga in a role advertised by the comic book character Harley Quinn (the filmcreaters are hoping she will lure in female moviegoers).
Much of the film consists of fantasy musical numbers starring the couple, who encounter while Arthur is in Arkham Asylum, apostponeing trial for his crimes from the first movie. But neither Warners nor Phillips is sootheable calling it a straight-up musical, given that only two of the characters sing, versus a traditional musical, which usupartner has scores of people participating in the numbers.
The studio’s tageting materials have steered clear of highweightlessing the film’s countless musical sequences, equitable as they did when selling Wonka, an official musical. Warners isn’t alone; Paramount also didn’t taget Mean Girls as a musical.
Phillips is well conscious that the sequel is unorthodox, as it doesn’t filledy chase thcdisorrowfulmireful on the ending of Joker, which sees Arthur hug his change ego. At the Los Angeles premiere Monday, Phillips thanked the studio “for taking such a belderly striumphg,” compriseing, “it is not necessarily the sequel you might foresee.”
More to come.
