The numbers are in for Joker: Folie à Deux, and unfortunately, it’s not the smash they were hoping for.
The Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga-led sequel to the billion-dollar generating comic book movie opened to No. 1 with $40 million at the box office in its opening weekend, via Variety.
The initial projections were between $50 million to $65 million, which were already lowered from pre-release tracking with $70 million.
2019’s Joker started with $96.2 million during the same weekend.
Joker 2 cost $200 million, versus the original’s $65 million price tag. It will need $450 million to break even, according to sources familiar with the film’s financials to Variety.
The original film grossed $335 million domestically and $743 million internationally, and was the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history at the time.
Joker 2 currently has a 33% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a D CinemaScore from moviegoers – the worst ever for a comic book movie.
See the explanation for the movie’s ending.
Find out the significance of the movie’s title.
