If you go by the CinemaScore alone, Joker: Folie à Deux is the worst comic book movie ever. That seems a tad harsh but it's clear comic book fans and regular filmgoers alike have wholly rejected Warner Bros. Discovery's Joker sequel.
Despite mostly positive reviews out of Venice last month, verdicts since have not been kind and the consensus seems to be that neither the story nor musical elements work.
After a disastrous 2023, the expectation was that Joker: Folie à Deux might turn things around for the brand ahead of a crucial 2025 which will launch a new DCU with Superman in July.
Instead, it's another critical and commercial flop, doing DC few favours as it looks to rebound from the DCEU era of storytelling. It probably won't surprise you then that DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn was quick to remind fans on social media that they had nothing to do with the critically panned sequel.
Director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver made similar comments last month at a pre-screening Q&A. "With all due respect to [Gunn and Safran]," he said, "this is kind of a Warner Brothers movie, and that's them also wanting it to be like, 'Okay, Todd did his thing. Let Todd continue to do his thing.'"
Silver chimed in to say Joker: Folie à Deux "started before [Gunn and Safran] even came up for it," prompting Phillips to remind those in attendance that this is "not like DC proper, even though it'll say DC after."
It's apparent that neither of them wanted to be associated with the DC brand any more than they had to be but that coukd do DC Studios the world of good when all is said and done. After all, the first project to boast their logo is The Penguin and that sits at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In our review of the movie, we concluded by saying, "Lady Gaga shines and Joaquin Phoenix brings more of the same to Joker: Folie à Deux, a wholly unnecessary sequel with no new ideas and nothing to say. It doesn’t work as a movie or a musical. What a waste of $200 million."
Did you watch Joker: Folie à Deux in theaters this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and check back here soon for the latest update on the sequel's box office performance.