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Director Todd Phillips had us dancing to a different tune when he returned to the world of DC Comics for Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to his monumentally successful film Joker. And while it initially looked like he’d be laughing all the way to the bank, the movie has vastly underperformed at the box office and taken a critical beating. With 2019’s Joker being the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time (until it was dethroned by Deadpool & Wolverine), there were high hopes that its sequel could potentially outperform it, especially with Lady Gaga on board as fan-favorite villain Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.

Like with the original Joker, Folie à Deux takes place in a more grounded version of Gotham City; we only got a fleeting glimpse of a young Bruce Wayne (Dante Pereira-Olson) in the first movie and nothing in the sequel. Instead, the story focuses on Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck,...

Spoiler Alert !!!Spoilers ahead for Joker: Folie à Deux

Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux has not been a worthy successor to its 2019 masterpiece of an original. The Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga starrer continues the journey of Arthur Fleck as he is put on trial for his antics in 2019’s Joker by Harvey Dent. But Gaga’s Harleen Quinzel is there to share in his delusions. And, it’s a musical.

While the film has received mixed to negative responses and a lackluster opening weekend, Phillips’ comments on one deleted scene from the film have rubbed fans the wrong way. When asked why a scene showing Gaga kissing a woman at the courthouse was deleted, Phillips reportedly said that it was improvised and it came in the way of the moment.

Todd Phillips Revealed Why He Deleted Lady Gaga Kissing A Woman In Joker: Folie à Deux A...

The eagerly awaited “Joker” sequel, Folie à̀ Deux, has debuted to poor box office results, posing a difficult weekend for Warner Bros.

With only $40 million made domestically during its opening weekend, the movie fell short of the previous film’s success, despite high hopes. On the other hand, the first Joker of 2019 debuted with an incredible $96.2 million, making it a huge hit at the box office.

‘Joker 2’ – Disappointing Ratings

Both critics and audiences have been underwhelmed by the sequel, and recovery in the following weeks seems uncertain.

According to CinemaScore, which polls moviegoers, Folie à Deux earned a dismal grade of D—a notably low rating for a comic book movie. Comparatively, the original Joker scored a B+, while even Marvel’s critically panned Madame Web managed a C+ rating.

The movie’s audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes is a dismal 31%, a sharp drop from the 89% approval of the first Joker movie.

The Joker franchise has always stirred intense reactions, with its dark themes and complex portrayal of one of the most infamous villains in comic book history. The sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, promised to push boundaries further, diving deeper into the psyche of Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix.

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux | Credit: WB

But the film’s shocking twists and the controversial statements made by director Todd Phillips sparked heated debate among fans. His choices were seen by some as bold and by others as a frustrating copout, and became the focal point of criticism, as Joker 2 wrestled with its portrayal of the character’s true identity.

The Man Behind the Mask: Todd Phillips’ Copout on Arthur Fleck Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux | Credit: WB Spoiler Alert !!!Spoilers for Joker 2 ahead!

When Joker: Folie à Deux hit theaters, fans were left...

Joker: Folie à Deux wasn’t meant to be a gamble. After the first film grossed over $1 billion worldwide against a budget of just $60 million, a sequel was a no-brainer. However, the studio wound up spending $200 million (plus $100 million in marketing costs) for a sequel which the fanbase is largely rejecting. So what went wrong? According to a report from Variety, someone really needed to say “no” to Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips.

The report states that Phillips “wanted nothing to do with DC” during the production of the Joker sequel. Production began just months after James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of DC. It was expected that the pair would provide feedback, but Phillips refused and would only discuss the project with Warner Bros. motion picture group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. However, it seemed that Phillips always got his way.

Sources say that...

A lot of things went wrong with Joker: Folie à Deux. But the worst one of all was Todd Phillips’ misguided belief that marrying the maniacal Batman villain who revels in chaos, carves up his face for laughs, and kills people as an afterthought with La La Land would be a good idea. Joker 2 does not work as a fantasy derivative of some rom-com musical. The film only works if it remembers what, or rather who, it is marketing – the Joker.

Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker [Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]

Meanwhile, Phillips, propelled by the success of his 2019 film, perhaps grew too lax to understand the weight of the sequel. The first film, made on a $60 million budget, earned $1.1 billion by the end of its theatrical run. The sequel, with a budget of $200 million, now ranks lower than Madame Web (which was laughable at best) and struggles to cross the $100 million ceiling,...

It has become a common trend in the Hollywood business, for sequels to completely undermine the glory established by the original movie. While it was true for others, nobody would have imagined, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker 2 in this regard. The movie featured a stunning ensemble with Lady Gaga working alongside Phoenix and was directed by filmmaker Tod Phillips.

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker 2 | Credits: Warner Bros.

But if recent reports are to be believed, it comes nowhere near 2019’s Joker, which was not only a huge commercial success. But it also bagged Phoenix his first Academy Award. This has created huge issues for Warner Bros. as well who are already having a bad year with a string of commercially failed projects.

Joker 2 Must Earn Big as Three Box Office Flops Hit Warner Bros.

Excitement was running high when Warner Bros. announced the production of Joker 2, bringing back Joaquin Phoenix as the lead.

Zack Snyder is known around the world for his iconic movies. But more importantly, he is known for his “director’s cut” films which reveal a completely different side to the story.

A still from Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Credits: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

Before James Gunn took over, the reins of the Dceu were in the hands of the 300 director. Snyder created an extraordinary world with the superheroes but more than that, he created some iconic director cuts along the way. Right now, it seems that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: Folie à Deux might be in desperate need of that.

Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux Has Become a Laughing Stock

In 2019, the world laughed and then cried with Joaquin Phoenix as the legendary actor gave one of his best performances in Joker. With the first film doing great, fans eagerly awaited Todd Phillips and Phoenix’s sequel.

Fate has not been kind to Joaquin Phoenix in the aftermath of Joker: Folie à Deux hitting the theatres. Dismal critics review, a popularity rating that couldn’t be worse, and Box Office returns that would be a lackluster reflection of the 2019 film.

Amidst all this rubble, he might be offered a sigh of relief from an unexpected corner. Timothée Chalamet’s upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, has generated a lot of hype amongst fans, turning back the clock to the 1960s. But for Phoenix, it might turn the clock to another happy time.

Joker: Folie à Deux has bombed on all fronts Joker: Folie a Deux has failed to live up to the hype || Warner Bros. Studio

In the lead-up to the release of Joker: Folie à Deux, director Todd Philips knew what they were doing was somewhat risky. He famously said,

“Why do something if it...

Comic books and films are usually rich and magnificent affairs, focusing on the big-budget action sequence that ends up on the screen. However, there has been a troubling trend in the past few years, such that sections of the fandom have been blaming the failure of films on political messaging that they disagree with rather than the contents of the film.

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ The Marvels. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 Marvel.

The Marvels was one such film that ended up being a bomb at the box office, largely blamed on the fact that the film tried to storm theaters with three female leaders, two of which were women of color. Brie Larson has always been a target for certain sections of the fandom, the same ones that had it out for Rey Skywalker and Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel.

For all their bashing of bad films,...

Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux has been one of the most frustrating ‘superhero’ films to have ever come out and for good reason. Although the film can be called a masterpiece from an objective perspective, the way that it tried to tell the story of the Joker is something that simply cannot be excused. The film threw water over everything that the first film created and ended a great legacy in a matter of a few hours.

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux | Credits: Warner Bros.

While many would want to coin this as an individual experience for the director, such an ending wasn’t executed for the first time in Joaquin Phoenix’s film. Marvel has made a mistake like this in the past, and if only Phillips had learned from their lesson.

Spoiler Alert !!!Spoilers for Joker: Folié a Deux A Betrayal of the Highest Regard...

Joker: Folie à Deux Surprisingly Saves Madame Web From Utter Humiliation - Main Image

Joker: Folie à Deux takes a different turn once the reality sinks in that the sequel we waited years for not only bombed at the box office, but even received a lower cinematic score compared to Sony's equally divisive Madame Web.

Madame Web Surprisingly Rises From Comic Book Film Failure as Joker 2 Takes Its Place

Joker: Folie à Deux served as a direct sequel to Arthur Fleck's 2019 DC flick. Apart from exploring how his mental illness plays out in Arkham Asylum, the "music in him" also stirs with a newfound match, Lady Gaga's "Lee" Quinn.

However, plenty of firsthand reactions from DC fans remain confused and frustrated with the movie's ending. Frankly, the story altogether didn't seem to resemble anything that of the traditional Dcu flick.

Now, upon the first box office weekend results,...

WB Exec Claims Joker 2 'Didn't Land' Because of Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn - Main Image

Even though fans are well aware of why Joker: Folie à Deux's box office turned out to be a failure, a Warner Bros. executive weighs in on the debate, putting the blame on Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn for turning fans away from the sequel.

WB Exec Claims Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn Didn't Connect with Fans in Joker 2

The majority of DC fans never asked for a Folie à Deux in the first place, especially one that involved Joker and Harley Quinn's seeming love story recreated in Todd Phillips' version of Gotham City.

Despite initial backlash, many found Lady Gaga's performance of The Cupid of Chaos 'demure' enough to not steal the spotlight from Arthur Fleck, especially since the ending had nothing to do with her.

Lee Quinn's involvement in the sequel,...

Joaquin Phoenix may have just tainted his own legacy with Joker: Folie à Deux. The sequel to his Oscar-winning performance in Joker has received mixed to negative reviews and may be on its way to becoming a box office disaster. Also starring Lady Gaga, many fans have criticized the musical direction of the film.

However, a new video of the film’s Venice Film Festival premiere indicates that fans may not have been the only people who disapproved of the film. In a video, the film is seen to have received a standing ovation. However, Phoenix seems to lean in and whisper something in Lady Gaga’s ear. Many have speculated that Phoenix called the film ‘horrible’.

Did Joaquin Phoenix Call Joker: Folie à Deux ‘Horrible’? Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie à Deux | Credits: Warner Bros.

While he became the second Joker actor to win the Oscar for the role in 2019’s Joker,...

Updated, with Joker: Folie à Deux actuals: The opening of Warner Bros and Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux has come in lower at the global and international box office than was estimated on Sunday. Whereas Sunday’s offshore estimate was within the pre-weekend projected range at $81.1M from 76 markets, the actuals now put the overseas tally at $77M through Sunday. Combined with domestic, which, as Anthony has noted, dipped to $37.8M, that brings the worldwide start to $114.8M, versus the $121.1M reported on Sunday.

Among shifts at the international box office, some were seen across the Top 5 markets, which each skewed slightly lower than estimated. Actuals now point to the Top 5 through Sunday as UK ($7.6M), Germany ($5.7M), Italy ($5.4M), Mexico ($5.3M) and France ($4.8M). Joker 2 remains the No. 1 title in each for the session.

See previous update below for more on the weekend.

Previous, Sunday: Warner Bros...

Joker Vs Joker 2 (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Joker: Folie a Deux has been receiving some of the harshest criticisms since its release last week. The WB movie is the sequel to the 2019 Joker, and both these films have received a drastic reception at the box office. Since it has only been a few days since Joker 2 came out, let’s compare the latest film’s budget and debut weekend with its predecessor. Keep scrolling for the deets.

Initially, Joker was made as a standalone film intended to launch a DC Black film series. However, director Todd Phillips later expressed his desire to make a sequel, which eventually materialized. The first film was a massive success, and it earned Joaquin Phoenix his first Academy Award for his outstanding performance in the dark role.

Joker –

The psychological thriller is based on the popular DC character of the same name and a notorious Batman villain.

Lady Gaga Reveals Argument with Joker: Folie à Deux Filmmakers Over Lee - Main Image

Joker: Folie a Deux may have been receiving some poor reviews before it officially came out, but over the weekend, more analyses of the film have been going out online actually defending the movie and the themes that it was going for.

One observation was that Harley Quinn/Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga) was actually the true villain of the movie who loved Joker but not Arthur, and while that message was clear in the film, it apparently wasn’t what Gaga agreed with when it came to the character.

Joker: Folie à Deux: Lady Gaga Says Lee Loves Arthur Too

Talking to ABC10, Gaga talks about how she came up with the character of Lee by studying Manson girls and trying to blend that performance with what she thought was ‘true love’. When...

DC Fans are Convinced WB Purposely Set Up Joker: Folie à Deux For Box Office Failure - Main Image

As Joker: Folie à Deux continues its streak of failure at the box office, DC fans have begun to wonder what Warner Bros. was thinking about Arthur Fleck's return on the big screen. Here's why fans believe WB may have purposely set it up for failure.

Did WB Purposely Sabotage Joker 2? DC Fans Think So

Ask any DC fan and they would answer the same thing: no one asked for a sequel. No one asked for a Joker and Harley Quinn tandem or a musical for Joker 2, and yet everything was embedded into Folie à Deux, anyway.

Despite filmmaker Todd Phillips confirming to fans that Joker 2 won't be a musical as the trailer initially suggests, the film on the big screens begged to differ, which led fans...

Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" dominated the nominations of the 36th Annual Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. "Of Gods" received 11 nominations total and will compete against Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), Mammuth, Le Nom Des Gens, The Ghost Writer, and On Tour for Best Film.

The Social Network, Invictus, Inception, Illegal, The Secret In Their Eyes, Bright Star, and Les Amours Imaginaires will duke it out for the Best Foreign Film category.

Jodie Foster will preside over the ceremony and Quentin Tarantino will be given an honorary Cesar award. The 36th Annual Cesar Awards will be held on Feb. 25th.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Film

Heartbreaker (L'Arnacoeur), dir: Pascal Chaumeil

Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieu), dir: Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg (Vie Heroique), dir: Joann Sfar

Mammuth, dir: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern

Le Nom Des Gens, dir: Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer,...

Maureen McCormick, the actress who played Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch, has written a tell-all book about her drug addictions, sex life, and how she dated Michael Jackson, Steve Martin, and her onscreen brother Greg, played by Barry Williams. — E! Online Jessica Simpson denied rumors that she shopped for rings with Tony Romo, saying, "I couldn't drag Tony into Neiman Marcus if I tried." — Entertainment Tonight Katy Perry will be hosting MTV's Europe Awards in Liverpool on Nov. 6. — People The release date for Fall Out Boy's new album, Folie a Deux, has been pushed back from Nov. 4 to Dec. 16 so as not to coincide with the election. — Billboard.com Lisa Marie Presley named her newborn twin girls Finley and Harper. — Us Weekly Guillaume Depardieu, the actor and son of Gerard Depardieu, passed away yesterday at Raymond-Poincare hospital outside of Paris due to a pulmonary illness he contracted during filming.