Joker: Folie a Deux gets few laughs with $40M opening

Joker: Folie a Deux didn’t have much buzz leading to this weekend with comic book fans. There seemed to be some confusion as to why Warner Bros. felt the need to make a sequel to the 2019 film…beyond the unexpected box office bonanza leading to the Todd Phillips/Joaquin Phoenix collaboration raking in $1 billion worldwide.

Box office prognosticators weren’t overly thrilled with the idea of Folie a Deux making much of a mark in theaters. Every week it seemed the forecast dropped. One week it was $70 million — a notable, but hardly disappointing drop from Joker’s $96.2 million opening weekend. Then it dipped down a bit to $55 million. Turns out those adjusted numbers were simply being optimistic.

Folie a Deux opened to a weak $40 million. That’s terrible news for Warner Bros. in many ways. By the end of its opening weekend, Joker had already recouped its $65 million budget. Everything else after that was profit. Inexplicably, Warner Bros. decided to go bigger giving Phillips a $200 million budget.

There’s little chance that Warner Bros. can hope for audiences eventually making their way to Folie a Deux as it earned a D CinemaScore. This marks the first time a comic book-based movie has received that low a rating. And yes, that includes Catwoman (B), Elektra (B), Jonah Hex (C+) and the 2015 Fantastic Four (C-).

Deadpool & Wolverine (available for pre-order now on Amazon) has since snatched the record for highest grossing R-rated comic book film with a $1.32 billion haul worldwide.

MORE:

• McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse JLA Batman review
• DC Comics reviews 10/2/24 – Absolute Power #4, DC All-In Special #1
• G.I. Joe Classified Series Retro Beach Head review
• Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three review

Coming in at second place was The Wild Robot, which brought in $18.7 million in its second weekend. So far, the animated family film has earned $63.9 million domestically.

Despite Folie a Deux’s box office struggles, fellow Warner Bros. film, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, continues to outperform expectations adding another $10.3 million to its haul. Domestically, the Beetlejuice sequel has brought in $265.5 million.

Transformers One took in another $5.3 million to reach $47.2 million. Closing out the top 5 was Speak No Evil with $2.8 million taking its total to $32.6 million.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.