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The upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux is not looking like the box office hit its predecessor was, despite the star power of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
Deadline reports that Joker: Folie à Deux is now tracking lower than earlier for its domestic opening box office weekend. It is ranging between $55-$60 million domestically. The original tracking had it around $70 million.
Joker: Folie à Deux is projected for a $140 million worldwide opening. That is nearly $100 million less than its predecessor. Plus, its $190+ million budget is a lot higher than the last movie.
Now, there is always a chance that the sequel exceeds expectations. The first Joker blew past its projections, grossing $96.2 million domestically and almost $250 million worldwide during its opening weekend.
Either way, this is not the forecast DC and Warner Bros were hoping for. The budget for the second likely increased due to the returns of Phoenix and director Todd Phillips. Additionally, they added Lady Gaga to the cast as Harley Quinn.
Joker's box office success
In 2019, Joker was one of nine releases that year to gross over $1 billion at the box office. The movie made a total of $1,078,751,311 during its theatrical run. It outgrossed the likes of Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker ($1,074,144,248), Toy Story 4 ($1,073,394,593), and Aladdin ($1,050,693,953).
The movie follows Arthur Fleck, a failing comedian and clown with mental illnesses. Throughout the course of the movie, he descends into madness as Gotham City faces a violent revolution against the affluent.
Phoenix starred as Arthur Fleck, earning a Best Actor Oscar for his performance. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy also star in it.
Joker harkened back to Martin Scorsese's '70s movies such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy (ironically, De Niro starred in both of those movies). At the Oscars, it received 11 nominations, winning Best Actor and Best Original Score.
It was a big swing since it is not connected to any cinematic universes. Warner Bros and DC wanted to take advantage of the hype, green-lighting a sequel.
What is Joker: Folie à Deux about?
The upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux continues the story of Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) as he falls in love with Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), better known as Harley Quinn. Zazie Beetz will reprise her role in the movie, with Brendon Gleeson and Catherine Keener joining the cast.
Like its predecessor, the Joker sequel premiered at the Venice Film Festival in early September. Warner Bros will release the movie on October 4.
Phillips returned to direct Joker: Folie à Deux, co-writing the script with Scott Silver. Silver previously co-wrote the previous movie's script with Phillips as well.
It remains unclear what the future holds for the Joker franchise. Phillips recently shut down the idea of doing a third movie or a spin-off revolving around Lady Gaga's character in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s not really where this movie is headed for me. I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films,” he told THR.
