“Joker: Folie à Deux” is the number one 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 sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 origin story about the Batman villain opened in North American theaters this weekend to a low-key $40 million. according to studio estimates on Sunday, less than half that of its predecessor.
The collapse was swift and has many in the industry wondering: What went wrong with the highly anticipated multimillion-dollar sequel to an Oscar-winning film that had the same creative team?
Just three weeks ago, experts were estimating the film would debut with $70 million, compared to “Joker’s” record-breaking $96.2 million launch in October 2019. Reviews were mixed at the Venice Film Festival , where it premiered in competition, as did the first film, and even received a 12-minute standing ovation.
But the glow was short-lived and its Rotten Tomatoes score fell from 63% in Venice to 33% in its first weekend in theaters.
Warner Bros. released the film on 4,102 screens in North America.
Internationally, the film has earned $81.1 million from 25,788 screens, bringing its total global earnings estimate to $121.1 million. In these two weeks, “Joker 2” will also premiere in Japan and China.
Second place went to Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” which added $18.7 million in its second weekend, raising its domestic total to nearly $64 million. Worldwide, he has earned more than $100 million. Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice” took third place in its fifth weekend.
Estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore:
“Joker: Folie à Deux”, 40 million dollars.
“The Wild Robot”, 18,7 millones
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”, 10.3 million
“Transformers One”, 5.4 million
“Speak No Evil”, 2,8 millones
“Sam and Colby: The Legends of Paranormal”, 1,8 millones
“White Bird”, 1,5 millones
“Deadpool and Wolverine”, 1.5 million
“The Substance”, 1,3 millones
“Megalopolis”, 1.1 million dollars.
