Why ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ Flopped: A Subversive Sequel No One Was Buying | Analysis

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Todd Phillips’ bleak interrogation of Arthur Fleck’s infamous alter ego turned off audiences so much it is now in box office free fall

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Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in "Joker: Folie a Deux" (Warner Bros.)

There have been plenty of comic book films that have left fans of DC and Marvel unimpressed, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that has faced such mass repudiation as “Joker: Folie à Deux” did this weekend.

When it first arrived on pre-release tracking, there were projections for a $70 million opening weekend. By this week, that fell to $50 million. While not a death sentence for a film with a $190 million budget, such a result would have required strong audience buzz for it to be theatrically successful against such a high production cost.

Instead, “Joker: Folie à Deux” received poor audience scores across the board, including the first ever D grade for a comic book film on CinemaScore.

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