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'Joker: Folie à Deux' makes shameful history as it gets ranked even lower than 'worst comic book movie ever'

'Joker: Folie à Deux' explores the twisted relationship between Arthur Fleck and Harleen 'Lee' Quinzel

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It appears that the gods of box office are not too pleased with the 2019 mega-hit movie Joker's follow-up 'Joker: Folie a Deux,' as the psychological thriller has the lowest CinemaScore in the history of comic book movies and tanks at the box office on opening night. The sequel, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, follows the twisted love tale of Arther Fleck and Harleen 'Lee' Quinzel. While the film was eagerly anticipated, it failed to meet expectations owing to a poor narrative and a disappointing ending. 

The story picks up two years after the events of the first film, where Arther is waiting for a trial in Arkham Asylum. There, he meets fellow prisoner Harleen 'Lee' Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who admires his Joker persona. As their romance progresses, a sequence of incidents causes Arther to denounce his Joker character, which sets the stage for the catastrophic conclusion. While the film had all the ingredients to shine brightly like its predecessor, it bombed at the box office with shockingly low figures.

What is Joker: Folie à Deux's CinemaScore?

Surprisingly, 'Joker: Folie a Deux' scored a poor D grade on CinemaScore, the lowest score for a comic book movie according to DailyMail. This poor rating places it well below 'Madame Web,' which has a C+. Furthermore, according to reports, the movie presently has a 31% audience score and a 32% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

How much 'Joker: Folie à Deux' raked at the box office on opening day?

'Joker: Folie à Deux' had a poor opening, earning $20 million on Friday, including $7 million from previews, with forecasts estimating a total opening weekend revenue of less than $50 million as per The Hollywood Report. As per reports, Rival Studios expects the movie to gross between $40 million to $47 million.

Reportedly, the sequel will be released in most international territories this weekend, except Japan and China, where it will premiere in the following weeks, with Warner Bros looking for an overseas debut of $80 million to $85 million. The estimations predict that 'Joker: Folie a Deux' may make less than $50 million during its opening weekend, a significant decrease from its initial estimates of $70 million. This is in sharp contrast to its predecessor, 'Joker', which debuted at $96.2 million and eventually made more than $1 billion worldwide. 

Fans express their disappointment at 'Joker: Folie à Deux'

As soon as  'Joker: Folie a Deux' made its debut, fans quickly expressed their disappointment on X.

A fan said, "I have such secondhand regrets on behalf of the Joker: Folie á Deux team. What did I not do while watching it? Fall asleep, look around at people in the theater, stare at the ceiling. I was left with my biggest vacuum of 2024 when this movie ended. Well, that’s life."

Another added, "Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t MUCH worse than Joker (a movie I gave a 6/10 but really on most rewatches is a 5) A very pretty and honestly driven production of a bad script and bad execution of themes that MIGHT work if a better writer-director handled it."

"Just finished watching Joker: Folie à Deux. Mixed feeling. Very mixed," said a fan.

Another fan bashed the movie and said, "Joker Folie a Deux is horrifically long. Joaquin performed well, but is it really great when only repeating yourself? Gaga is terrible. The concept of a musical is interesting but only if done right and it isn’t. There was potential here, but it needed some serious editing & revisions."

'Joker: Folie a Deux' trailer