The Warner Bros' offering, Joker: Folie a Deux, stumbled out of the gate this weekend with an opening haul of just $37.8 million, a dip from the studio's initial optimism of $40 million reported yesterday morning. Sunday's take of $6.2 million marked a steep 45% decline from Saturday's $11.3 million, painting a grim picture for the film's prospects. With a pre-P&A budget exceeding $190 million, the stakes were high, but the returns have been dismal.
Overseas, as we mentioned yesterday, fared slightly better with a gross of $81.1 million, yet even there, the outlook isn't rosy. Digging deeper into the missteps under David Zaslav's leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery, we find that the studio granted filmmaker Todd Phillips carte blanche to create his vision, but at a colossal cost of over $190 million—a staggering 171% hike from the original Joker's $70 million budget, which was co-financed by Village Roadshow and Bron. Joker 2, on the other hand, had just one co-financier, Domain, contributing 25%.
An astute industry insider aptly observed last night that the low CinemaScores are indicative of a bait-and-switch tactic by the studio. Remember that poster of Joker and Harley dancing on the stairs? It's nowhere to be found in the film. Studios often play a sly game in marketing, concealing the musical elements to lure audiences in, only to reveal them once they're seated. But in this case, the deception backfired, with some patrons at a Saturday evening screening in Century City erupting in frustration at the unexpected musical numbers.
Critics may argue Joker 2 isn't strictly a musical, but the inclusion of songs, singing, and dancing was a jarring surprise for many. Furthermore, the film's bottom 40% of theaters contributed a mere 5% of the total gross, highlighting a lack of widespread appeal.
Despite Phillips' artistic ambitions, Joker 2 failed to resonate with mainstream audiences. Saturday's plummeting gross, following Friday and previews' modest $20.3 million, coupled with abysmal word-of-mouth (D CinemaScore, half a star on PostTrak, and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score even lower than critics' at 31% to 33%), paints a bleak picture for its domestic run.
In the end, Joker 2's final domestic tally will pale in comparison to the original's opening weekend record of $96.2 million, which still stands as the benchmark for October releases. As for weekend two, Joker 2 might squeak by with a win, even if it suffers a steep drop to $9-$10 million. The Marvels, which suffered Marvel Studios' lowest-ever opening of $46.1 million last November, saw a catastrophic 78% decline in weekend two, grossing just $10.1 million despite a 'B' CinemaScore. This weekend, Joker 2 faces stiff competition from Sony's expansion of Jason Reitman's Saturday Night, Iconic Events' Terrifier 3 eyeing $9 million, and Focus Features' Piece by Piece potentially reaching $4 million.
