Director Todd Phillips relied on his own creative vision for the sequel to his hit film “Joker” instead of being guided by fan and studio expectations. After the box office failure, the blame is placed on the director.
Niko Tavernise/™ & © DC Comics
A successful launch weekend is really something different. “Joker: Folie À Deux” cost Warner Bros. around $200 million (plus at least $100 million for marketing). The eagerly awaited sequel does not seem to be able to recoup these costs at the moment: 40 million were raised when the sequel debuted in the USA. The first “Joker” grossed more than twice as much on its opening weekend in the US.
Globally, “Joker: Folie À Deux” currently has revenue of $121 million. These box office results are still a long way from being a profitable breakthrough. And in addition to these numbers there are sometimes devastating reviews and unusually poor audience ratings.
After the disappointing start, the forecasts for the film obviously look bleak; it is already being considered a flop. And as is always the case when something goes wrong, the blame begins – right at the front of the line of fire: the director Todd Phillips.
Bad vibes between DC and Todd Phillips
At the premiere of “Joker: Folie À Deux”, Phillips responded to the question of possible further projects about the Joker or Harley Quinn with a negative and emphasized that “his time in the DC Universe is over”. This statement now takes on a different weight, after using insider sources from the US industry magazine Variety It became known how things were supposedly going on behind the scenes.
Accordingly, discord between the director and the DC group is said to have increased noticeably during the making of the film. James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the reins of DC Studios in late 2022, and many expected them to provide comments and feedback on the now-into-production “Joker 2” – given the film’s financial stakes and because it’s based on one of the biggest names in the DC canon.
The DC bosses were missing from the “Joker 2” premiere
However, Todd Phillips “wanted nothing to do with DC” during the production of his filmsaid an insider. In response to early questions about the influence of the new DC bosses, Phillips replied: “With all due respect to them, this is a Warner Bros film.” Gunn and Safran ended up missing from the premiere of “Joker: Folie À Deux.”
Those in charge at Warner also seemed to have difficulty getting through to Phillips: There are said to have been differences in the choice of location (Warner’s suggestion of London would have cost significantly less than Phillips’ preferred LA) and the premiere (Phillips ensured that the film be shown for the first time at the Venice Festival). The director, who of course enjoyed plenty of scope and creative freedom for the second part after the huge success of his first “Joker” film, seemed to have made extensive use of this special status.
Musical psychogram of the “Joker”: A risky undertaking
Those involved at DC and Warner Bros. responded to inquiries from the Varietymagazine with appeasing statements, any tensions were downplayed by the speakers and the absence of certain people was attributed to other commitments. Todd Phillips himself declined to comment.
Ultimately, as the director made clear and as was the case with the first part, “Joker: Folie À Deux” is an independent Warner Bros. film and Phillips’ special creationand is only connected to the Warner subsidiary DC insofar as he uses a character from their cosmos.
But this character is not just anyone, but THE legendary adversary from the DC universe and is therefore accompanied by various images from comics and films. The name “Joker” attracted masses of fans to the cinemas, especially for the first part – but with the corresponding prior knowledge and expectations. Breaking away from these expectations and pursuing one’s own creative vision for the character Arthur Fleck was definitely a risky venture – which, at least from a commercial perspective, hasn’t been particularly successful so far.
The audience will have to judge for themselves whether Phillips’ musical psychogram is successful or less successful. The singing interludes in the film divide opinions; However, the camera settings and the acting performance of the two stars Phoenix and Gaga find numerous advocates. We were able to gain a lot from the film: In the official FILMSTARTS review, editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen gave it a good 3.5 out of 5 possible stars.
By the way, another director will soon attract millions of viewers to the cinemas again – with his own famous name. The start date and initial information about Christopher Nolan’s next work have just been announced:
Christopher Nolan’s new film has a theatrical release – and the main actor has already been found
