For good reason, Warner Bros. expected a lot from Joker: Folie à Deux Todd Phillips’ acclaimed 2019 film about the Clown Prince of Crime earned over $1B at the box office and multiple Oscar nominations on a $65M budget, so why shouldn’t the sequel do just as well? Or at least turn a healthy profit? Well, that didn’t happen. After two weeks and a steep 81% drop, the film has just $165M worldwide and could cost the studio a pretty penny.
According to Variety, Joker: Folie à Deux could cost Warner Bros. between $150M-$200M when all is said and done. For comparison, Joker had $248M after just three days.
Somehow, considering the bulk of the film was set in grungy Arkham Asylum, it nevertheless cost a reported $200M to produce plus another $100M to market and distribute. At this rate, it won’t come close to hitting the roughly $450M needed just to break even. Ouch.
To be fair, WB’s numbers are different. They say just $375M is needed to break even, but even so that’s still a big loss. Chances are it will make a sizable chunk of change when released digitally.
“Any estimates suggested by anonymous ‘insiders’ or ‘rival executives’ are grossly wrong and continues a trend where rumor is reported as fact,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement. “The film continues to play in theatrical release, included with this week’s opening in China, and will continue to earn revenue throughout its home viewing and ancillary run.”
Joker: Folie à Deux wasn’t a film that fans were necessarily begging for, and even if they were, they weren’t begging to see it as a musical. Phillips is known for experimenting with the films he’s least excited about, such as The Hangover 3, but after this utter failure it’s unlikely a studio will give him the money to do it again.
