When a highly anticipated film bombs at the box office, there is typically a slew of questions that get asked. However, the biggest one is always this— What happened? Even though the film has been out for one weekend, that question is being asked about Warner Bros.’ recent film, “Joker: Folie à Deux.” What happened with this film? It is the sequel to a billion-dollar hit, and not only is the box office dismal for the new film, but the reviews are in the toilet. Hell, the film even earned a ‘D’ CinemaScore, which is nearly unheard of for a major film. Well, it appears we’re getting our first answers.
In a new report from Variety, we attempt to answer the question of what happened to “Joker: Folie à Deux.” The narrative seems to put the blame squarely on the shoulders of director Todd Phillips, who was given final cut on the film.
For context, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is the sequel to “Joker,” a film that earned more than $1.1 billion at the global box office. However, the sequel decided to take a different route than many anticipated by being a musical. This is not a move that fanboys wanted, which meant the film seemingly alienated the one group of people who absolutely adored the first film. Not a great idea.
The report offers up a lot of reasons why the film failed. Suffice it to say, all fingers seemingly point back at Phillips, who demanded several things that seemed to backfire. The first is he wanted the film to have a massive budget, more than three times the first film. Secondly, Phillips wanted the film to premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, something that greatly backfired as reviews were bad. And third, and perhaps something that fans will shake their heads at, the director didn’t want any help from James Gunn and Peter Safran, the duo who took over DC Studios and oversee all the comic book films for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The report claims that it was believed that Gunn and Safran would be given the opportunity to offer notes on the film during the developmental process. However, Phillips reportedly refused and would only speak with the heads of Warner Bros. films, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. This resulted in a lack of DC Studios branding on the film, with James Gunn speaking out about it over the last weekend. He took to Threads to explain that a DC Studios logo wasn’t attached to “Joker 2” because the film is not part of DC Studios. However, he clarified that projects such as “The Penguin” and “The Batman 2” are both going to feature the logo. While that isn’t an admission that there was friction between Gunn and Phillips, it is odd how everything with superheroes is DC Studios except “Joker: Folie à Deux.” The absence speaks volumes.
Regardless, it’s probably for the best that Gunn and Safran had nothing to do with “Joker: Folie à Deux.” That film is going to be one of the biggest bombs of 2024, and that sort of black eye isn’t what the co-CEOs of a new studio want on their resume.
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