Joker: Folie à Deux Bombed—What Went Wrong?

By now, you’ve apt heard Joker: Folie à Deux is underperforming astatine the container office. Though inactive opening astatine fig 1 implicit the weekend, the movie has truthful acold garnered only $37.8 million successful gross (even little than the studio’s archetypal reports of $40 million) against its legitimately absurd fund of $200 million—an integer which, adjacent with its myriad philharmonic numbers, doesn’t often construe to expansive spectacle connected the screen.

The sequel adjacent received the uncommon “D” standing from the Las Vegas marketplace probe steadfast CinemaScore—the first movie based connected a comic publication to bash so, oddly—but don’t clasp that against it. It’s an grant antecedently bestowed upon Mary Harron’s American Psycho, Antonia Bird’s Ravenous, Vincenzo Natali’s Splice, Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and Ridley Scott’s The Counsellor—all movies derided successful their archetypal release, but person since either received their ain Criterion releases, critical reevaluations oregon boutique novelizations.

So, what went wrong?  Well, arsenic a jukebox musical/courtroom play centered connected a doomed romance inspired by a quality from Batman: The Animated Series, Joker: Folie à Deux is pointedly a movie for nary 1 successful particular. However, this is perfectly a originative prime reflecting however its main quality isn’t what anyone wants him to be, either. Arthur’s lawyer, Maryanne Stewart, wants him to beryllium dissociative (he’s not), scientist Dr. Liu wants him judged afloat sane (he’s not), TV property Paddy Meyers wants him to beryllium a cold-blooded slayer (he’s not), Lady Gaga’s Lee wants him to beryllium a revolutionary (he’s not), his erstwhile coworker Gary Puddles wants him to beryllium the benignant antheral helium remembers (he’s not), Harvey Dent wants him to beryllium idiosyncratic who’s held afloat accountable for his crimes (he’s not), his neighbour Sophie Drummond hopes he’s afloat delusional (he’s not), and Arthur wants himself to beryllium a romanticist starring antheral (he’s not).

Audiences, seemingly, were besides disappointed the mentally sick antheral they’d been pursuing for 2 movies did not ascend to the level of people leader oregon transgression mastermind they’d been promised. Not lone did this “Joker” not go Batman’s archenemy, but was alternatively revealed to beryllium an inconsequential, sick idiosyncratic failed by his household and assemblage for astir 4 hours of surface time. And present he’s singing astir his feelings? What’s next, assemblage work astatine my section hospice?!

Late successful the film, erstwhile Arthur is moving done the streets of Gotham, helium passes a movie theatre playing Roger Corman’s A Bucket of Blood, a horror-comedy concerning a sculptor truthful hopeless to entreaty to his dubious bushed writer peers, it leads to creation fraud, a drawstring of murders, and eventual suicide. While the Joker duology has been often compared to Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, Corman’s movie is apt its astir close touchstone, suggesting determination truly was a expansive plan down this bizarre originative endeavor, aft all. Maybe the “Folie à Deux” of its rubric isn’t the madness shared by the Joker and Harley Quinn, but alternatively the assemblage and the taste circumstances starring to the request for a sequel to a prestige, Oscar-winning play based connected a children’s comic publication quality from the 1940s?

No substance what, let’s anticipation astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic who went to spot the movie walked distant believing it’s good to sing astir their feelings. Better to bash that than execution six people.

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