is the No. 1 movie at the box office, but it might not be destined for a happy ending.
In a turn of events that only Arthur Fleck would find funny, the follow-up to about the Batman villain opened in theaters nationwide this weekend to a muted $40 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, less than half that of its predecessor. The collapse was swift and has many in the industry wondering: How did with the same creative team go wrong?
Just three weeks ago, tracking services pegged the movie for a $70 million debut, which would still have been down a fair amount from B次元官网网址淛okerB次元官网网址檚B次元官网网址� record-breaking $96.2 million launch in Oct. 2019. Reviews were mixed out of the , where and even got a 12-minute standing ovation.
But the homecoming glow was short-lived, and the fragile foundation would crumble in the coming weeks with its Rotten Tomatoes score dropping from 63% at Venice to 33% by its first weekend in theaters. Perhaps even more surprising were the audience reviews: Ticket buyers polled on opening night gave the film a deadly D CinemaScore. Exit polls from PostTrak werenB次元官网网址檛 any better. It got a meager half star out of five possible.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a double whammy thatB次元官网网址檚 very difficult to recover from,B次元官网网址� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. B次元官网网址淭he biggest issue of all is the reported budget. A $40 or $50 million opening for a less expensive movie would be a solid debut.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淛oker: Folie 脿 DeuxB次元官网网址� cost at least twice as much as the first film to produce, though reported figures vary at exactly how pricey it was to make. Phillips told Variety that it was less than the reported $200 million; Others have it pegged at $190 million. Warner Bros. released the film in 4,102 locations in North America. About 12.5% of its domestic total came from 415 IMAX screens.
Internationally, itB次元官网网址檚 earned $81.1 million from 25,788 screens, bringing its total global earnings estimate to $121.1 million. In the next two weeks, B次元官网网址淛oker 2B次元官网网址� will also open in Japan and China.
Second place went to Universal and which added $18.7 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to nearly $64 million. Globally, itB次元官网网址檚 made over $100 million. Warner Bros.B次元官网网址� took third place in weekend five, ParamountB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭ransformers OneB次元官网网址� landed in fourth and Universal and BlumhouseB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪peak No EvilB次元官网网址� rounded out the top five.
The other big new release of the weekend, LionsgateB次元官网网址檚 flopped with just $1.5 million from just over 1,000 locations, despite an A+ CinemaScore.
Overall, the weekend is up from the same frame last year, but B次元官网网址淛okerB次元官网网址檚B次元官网网址� start is an unwelcome twist for theater owners hoping to narrow the box office deficit.
Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix have said they aspired to make something as B次元官网网址渁udaciousB次元官网网址� as the first film. The , as a Joker superfan, and delved further into the mind of Arthur Fleck, imprisoned at Arkham and awaiting trial for the murders he committed in the first. ItB次元官网网址檚 also a musical, with elaborately imagined song and dance numbers to old standards. called B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址橦arlequin,B次元官网网址� alongside the film.
In his , Jake Coyle wrote that B次元官网网址淧hillips has followed his very antihero take on the Joker with a very anti-sequel. It combines prison drama, courthouse thriller and musical, and yet turns out remarkably inert given how combustible the original was.B次元官网网址�
The sequel has already been the subject of many think pieces, some who posit that the sequel was deliberately alienating fans of the first movie. In cruder terms, itB次元官网网址檚 been called a B次元官网网址渕iddle finger.B次元官网网址� But fans often ignore the advice of critics, especially when it comes to opening their wallets to see revered comic book characters on the big screen.
B次元官网网址淭hey took a swing for the fences,B次元官网网址� Dergarabedian said. B次元官网网址淏ut except for a couple of outliers, audiences in 2024 seem to want to know what theyB次元官网网址檙e getting when theyB次元官网网址檙e going to the theater. They want the tried and true, the familiar.B次元官网网址�
It has some high-profile defenders too: Francis Ford Coppola, who last week got his own for his pricey, ambitious and divisive film B次元官网网址淢egalopolis,B次元官网网址� entered the Joker chat with an Instagram post.
B次元官网网址淍ToddPhillips films always amaze me and I enjoy them thoroughly,B次元官网网址� Coppola wrote. B次元官网网址淓ver since the wonderful B次元官网网址楾he HangoverB次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檚 always one step ahead of the audience never doing what they expect.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淢egalopolis,B次元官网网址� meanwhile, dropped a terminal 74% in its second weekend with just over $1 million, bringing its total just shy of $6.5 million against a $120 million budget.
Deadline editor Anthony DB次元官网网址橝lessandro thinks the problem started with the idea to make the Joker sequel a musical. B次元官网网址淣o fan of the original movie wanted to see a musical sequel,B次元官网网址� he wrote on Saturday.
The and the subject of much discourse, then about whether it might send the wrong message to the wrong type of person. And yet people still flocked to see what the fuss was about. B次元官网网址淛okerB次元官网网址� went on to pick up 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and best director, and three wins. It also made over $1 billion and was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, until this summer when MarvelB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淒eadpool & WolverineB次元官网网址� took the crown.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. B次元官网网址淛oker: Folie 脿 Deux,B次元官网网址� $40 million.
2. B次元官网网址淭he Wild Robot,B次元官网网址� $18.7 million.
3. B次元官网网址淏eetlejuice Beetlejuice,B次元官网网址� $10.3 million.
4. B次元官网网址淭ransformers One,B次元官网网址� $5.4 million.
5. B次元官网网址淪peak No Evil,B次元官网网址� $2.8 million.
6. B次元官网网址淪am and Colby: The Legends of Paranormal,B次元官网网址� $1.8 million.
7. B次元官网网址淲hite Bird,B次元官网网址� $1.5 million.
8. B次元官网网址淒eadpool & Wolverine,B次元官网网址� $1.5 million.
9. B次元官网网址淭he Substance,B次元官网网址� $1.3 million.
10. B次元官网网址淢egalopolis,B次元官网网址� $1.1 million.
