JokerSequel's 'Disappointing' Box Office Addressed by Warner Bros. CEO: We 'Must Deliver More Consistency'

Mar. 15, 2025

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix inJoker: Folie à Deux(2024).Photo:Niko Tavernise

Niko Tavernise

Released last month in theaters, the sequel to 2019’sJokermade$204.7 million globally, against a reported $200 million budget (though directorTodd Phillipshascalled the latter budget claim “absurd”).

“Even in an industry of hits and misses, we must acknowledge that our studios business must deliver more consistency,” CEO David Zaslav said on an analyst call Thursday, Nov. 7, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.

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Joaquin Phoenix (center) inJoker: Folie à Deux(2024).Niko Tavernise

Additionally, Zaslav noted “there have been some real bright spots in our studios business.” Some of these include September’sBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, which raked in close to $450 million, and the biggest movie of 2023,Barbie.

Folie à Deuxearned a D CinemaScoreupon its opening. According toVariety, that’s the lowest-ever score for a comic-book movie. The most recent record-holder before that was 2015’sFantastic Four, which scored a C-.

By comparison, the originalJoker, which won starJoaquin PhoenixanAcademy Awardfor Best Actor, got a B+ on CinemaScore. Other critically panned films from this year fared slightly better thanFolie à Deux:Borderlandsgot a D+,whileMadame Webgot a C+.

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Joaquin Phoenix inJoker: Folie à Deux(2024).Niko Tavernise

In the sequel, Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, a.k.a. Joker, is facing the death penalty for his crimes in the first film. At Arkham State Hospital, where he’s incarcerated, he “not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him,” per a synopsis.

Lady Gagastars as that true love: a singing-and-dancing Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, a.k.a. Harley Quinn.

Presumably addressing both movies’ connection to Batman, he added that the sequel’s ending “clarifies a lot of things that you might have had questions about in the first movie,” and also reportedly joked, “If you don’t understand it, email me.”

Joker: Folie à Deuxis now available on digital.

source: people.com