Where Did Joker 2 Go Wrong? Report Places Blame On The Director
The final weekend numbers are in for Joker: Folie à Deux, and they aren’t pretty. What was initially estimated as a $39 million opening has now been revised to $37 million. To put that in perspective, the Joker sequel had a lower opening than Morbius. When those kind of numbers are weighed against a $190-200 million budget, someone typically loses their job. But in the case of Joker, the Warner Bros. studio executives are likely to get through it. Instead, most of the blame has been centered around director Todd Phillips.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips was given $20 million to direct the film as well as “an extraordinary level of autonomy and final cut.” That means he had full creative control over the film, which was not screened for test audiences. Stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga reportedly earned $20 million and $12 million, respectively; which only increased the film’s massive budget.
It was Phillips’ decision to incorporate musical numbers into the sequel, after Phoenix was initially inspired by a dream to suggest making it a Broadway play. The tonal change from the first movie proved to be massively unpopular with the audience, as Folie à Deux landed with a D CinemaScore–the lowest in the history of modern comic book movies–while critics also tore it apart. That helped keep undecided moviegoers from seeing it over the weekend.