The Warner Bros. again bet on another DC Comics sequel but it didn't work out with Joker: Folie à Deux. After earning the lowest score for a comic book film, a “D” on CinemaScore, negative reactions affected its $40 million USD opening weekend.
Last weekend, Deadline quoted from a movie marketing expert about the bold move by Warner Bros. on the Joker sequel, “It's not a box office problem, it's a creative development problem.” With a net production cost of more than $190 million USD, the opening weekend fell far short of the forecast at $39 million USD as Warner Bros. reported. the $40 million USD on Sunday morning. But, according to the studio, overseas, the film has earned $80 million USD and is approaching an $81.1 million USD opening, for a worldwide total of $121.1 million USD. However, it still fell short of the $140 million USD forecast.
Those who bet on Joker: Folie à Deux being a cash cow were wrong, as it scored one of the lowest openings for a major franchise comic book film. This is even lower than Marvel Studios which fell last year with $46.1 million USD. Even though the numbers are low, it's not the lowest opening for a DC film. Josh Brolin's western Jonah Hex from 2010 had an opening of $5.3 million USD. On Friday, Joker: Folie à Deux had $20 million USD in sales including previews, but on Saturday, it fell 45% to $11.4 million USD.
Even though Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix were there, their star power didn't help the film. The two did not do much press for the film and they interacted with fans very little. So let's just wait and see how the movie will fare while it's in theaters.
