The Thursday evening preview numbers are in for Joker: Folie à Deux and the latest DC movie made only $7 million. It's worth noting that the number also includes whatever the Joker sequel earned from Monday's early screenings across North America.
This is a far cry from the 2019 movie which grossed $13.3 million on Thursday alone; from there, it made a record-breaking $96.2 million throughout its opening weekend.
Tracking is all over the place for Joker: Folie à Deux, but a $50 million debut is a best-case scenario at this stage (it's currently looking likely to land somewhere between $48 million - $53 million).
Making matters worse is the PostTrak score; we talk about CinemaScore a lot here but this is an exit polling service reporting audience demographics and the aspects of each title that trigger interest and attendance.
While not particularly well-known, it's an important tool used by studios and box office analysts and Joker: Folie à Deux was awarded a 1/2 star and only 40% positive results. That's similar to last weekend's Megalopolis and, most troublingly, only 24% of those asked would definitely recommend the movie to friends.
This comes after Joker: Folie à Deux dipped to 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's starting to feel a bit like watching a car crash play out in real time and Warner Bros. Discovery will need to figure out where they went wrong. The biggest question: how does the sequel to an Oscar-winning (Best Actor, Best Original Score) movie that made over $1 billion end up faring so poorly critically and commercially?
Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
The sequel stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar-winner Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born). The movie also features Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Catherine Keener (Get Out), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from Joker.
Phillips, who was nominated for Oscars for directing, writing and producing Joker, directed Joker: Folie À Deux from a screenplay by fellow Oscar nominee Scott Silver & Phillips, based on characters from DC. This follow-up was produced by Phillips, Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Joseph Garner. Lady Gaga served as music consultant.
Joker: Folie À Deux is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for updates.