Joker: Folie a Deux is expected to lose upwards of 200 million dollars after a lukewarm response from both fans and critics alike. The sequel to 2019’s surprise hit Joker cost roughly 200 million to make, with an additional 100 million spent on marketing. However, Folie a Deux only made a measly 37.8 million dollars opening weekend.
Although the film still earned the number one spot at the box office, 37.8 million was much lower than Warner Bros expectations, as they projected the film would make between 50 and 65 million on opening weekend. Opening weekend is often seen by studios as a way to determine the financial success of a film, making it crucial that a film does well in the first few days of release.
By comparison, Joker (2019) made 96.2 million on opening weekend in America and 248.4 million globally, even becoming the first R-rated movie to make over a billion dollars at the box office. It managed to accomplish all of this while only costing 65 million to make, a fraction of the budget of Folie a Deux.
Word of mouth is extremely important when it comes to the success of a film, unfortunately Joker: Folie a Deux left many fans disappointed. A major reason for this could be marketing failing to portray the film as a musical, leaving many fans of the original who went to see the movie perplexed when actors started singing. Folie a Deux contains over 15 musical numbers in its 139-minute run time, averaging out to a song about every 9 minutes, making it an unavoidable aspect of the film.
We asked film fan Daniela Hernandez, who saw the movie, what she thought. “The first movie already set itself up to be incel fodder. You can’t just abandon that audience and expect it to go well.”
Hernandez is referring to meta commentary in the film which acknowledges audience members who resonated with the character Joker and saw the original movie as a self-insert power fantasy. The original film garnered pervasive criticism about this and was even labeled dangerous by some critics. Director Todd Phillips takes his time to attempt to address and reverse some of the damage he feels he’s done, even opting to not test-screen his movie before release–something almost unheard of in Hollywood.
Whether this makes Folie a Deux a more interesting film is up to audience members to decide. However, there’s one thing that is certain: many die-hard fans of the original film felt alienated, only making the reception of the film worse.
To recuperate some of their losses, Warner Bros is slated to release Joker: Folie a Deux on streaming far earlier than expected, with a release date of October 29th at the price of $19.99 for rental and $24.99 for purchase. With the film now far more accessible, a wider range of audience members will be given the opportunity to form their own opinions.
