Warner Bros. will be having flashbacks of a few months ago, whenFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagacatastrophically under-performed in its opening weekend, ultimately earning a fraction of its predecessor’s revenue. This week, the studio is debuting what seemed like a home run — directorTodd Phillips’Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the filmmaker’s blockbuster 2019 film,Joker. But things are quickly spiraling out of control, with the musical sequel opening topoor critical reviewsand venomous audience response.
StarringJoaquin PhoenixandLady Gaga,Joker: Folie à Deuxgrossed around $20 million on Friday, which includes the $7 million that it made in Thursday previews. This puts iton track for a $50 million opening weekend haulat the domestic box office, butchances are that this number will fall to around $40 millionas the negative word of mouth spreads. By comparison,Jokeropened to a stellar $96 million in 2019, and ended up grossing over $335 million domestically and more than $1 billion worldwide. But that film was an anomaly, produced on a relatively lean budget of around $70 million. By comparison,Joker: Folie à Deuxcost a reported $190 million to produce.
The film’s $50 million projected weekend haul puts it in the same range as the notorious recent bombsThe FlashandThe Marvels. The worry is thatJoker: Folie à Deuxwill continue tumbling thanks to terrible exit scores. The movie currently sits at a “rotten” 32% approval rating on the aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, but more worryingly, it hasearned a D CinemaScorefrom opening day audiences. For context, this is a worse CinemaScore than those earned by recent duds such asMegalopolisandBorderlands, and also lower than those earned by widely-derided comic book films such asMorbiusandMadame Web.
Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Saved Face for W.B.
Slipping to number two after a solid opening weekend, DreamWorks’The Wild Robotgrossed around $5 million on its second Friday. The universally praised animated film is looking at a second weekend haul of around $20 million, which represents a soft 45% decline from its debut frame. Thisshould take the film’s running domestic total to around $65 millionby Sunday. At number three, the holdover hitBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceis eying an excellent fifth weekend haul, days before it debuts on digital streaming platforms.Tim Burton’s legacy sequel grossed around $3 million on Friday, and should be able to add more than $10 million across the weekend,pushing its running domestic haul past the $265 million mark.
The fourth place was claimed by Paramount’s disappointingTransformers One. Despite positive reviews, the animated film is showing no signs of recovery after two weeks of release.Transformers Oneis eying a little over $5 million this weekend, after grossing over $1 million on its third Friday. This should take the film’srunning domestic haul to just under $50 million— a poor result, no matter how you cut it. The top five was rounded out by Universal’s horror remakeSpeak No Evil, which is proving to be surprisingly resilient despite having debuted on digital recently. The film is eying around $3 million in its fourth weekend, which should take itsdomestic haul past the $30 million mark. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux explores Arthur Fleck’s ongoing struggle with his dual identity as he unexpectedly discovers love and unleashes his hidden musical talent. Set against a backdrop of societal unrest, Arthur’s journey intertwines personal transformation with chaotic encounters, leading to profound shifts in his life and the world around him.
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