2023 was a rotten year for the DC brand. DC Studios' announcement at the start of the year that the franchise would be rebooted lessened interest in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with each of them struggling at the box office.
Only Blue Beetle really managed to escape the wrath of fans and critics, though it too flopped with $130 million on a budget of over $100 million.
2024's only DC movie is Joker: Folie à Deux and...well, what a week it's been for the sequel. With 33% on Rotten Tomatoes (and 32% courtesy of moviegoers), it's bombed at the box office and will be one of the year's biggest flops when all is said and done.
The blame game has also begun, with filmmaker Todd Phillips said to be responsible for the massive budget after decided he "wanted nothing to do with DC" while making this follow-up. Oh, and the plot supposedly came to Joaquin Phoenix in a dream!
Joker wasn't exactly a critical darling in 2019 but it broke records and earned Phoenix an Oscar, so the $1 billion hit spawning a follow-up always seemed in equal parts both inevitable and unlikely. Where did it all go wrong for Joker: Folie à Deux? We have some ideas.
Last weekend, we asked you, ComicBookMovie.com's readers, to weigh in with your ratings and the results make for very interesting reading.
A whopping 43.38% of you declared, "I haven't watched it/don't plan on watching," likely explaining those awful box office numbers. Then, we had 22.86% of you award the sequel ⭐ and that was followed by ⭐⭐⭐ (10.79%), ⭐️⭐️ (10.43%), ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (7.03%), and ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5.51%).
Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a new contender for the worst comic book movie ever...
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."
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.
Joker: Folie À Deux is now playing in theaters.