Released with the promise of much success, Joker: Folie à Deux has unleashed hot debates among fans after not performing well at the box office.
With just $20 million as take on its first night against a budget of $200 million, most fans jumped onto social media to let out theories on why this sequel starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga failed to reach the same heights as the OG film.
One of the fans opines that it never was a film meant to become a hit, while others believe that deeper messages in the movie have been missed. While the response is mixed, one thing is sure: the film is on people's minds, no matter the counts.
Let's see what some fans of Joker: Folie à Deux on X (formerly Twitter) have said:
@Slatzism set the tone by asserting, “This sequel wasn’t meant to do well at the box office – it was intended to be a humiliation ritual to destroy the movie’s legacy as punishment for it resonating with the ‘wrong’ people.”
This theory digs deeper into a cultural reason the movie failed, speculating that the movie was sabotaged because of its connection to a controversial audience.
@m_r_llyb_nkr_pt emphasized the film’s portrayal of Arthur’s mental health, noting that “Arthur was mentally ill. No one saw him for who he was... he didn’t have the glow-up y’all wanted, so u discarded him like trash.” [sic]
This viewer thinks audiences were frustrated by how Arthur's character didn't evolve as they wanted it to. It made them feel worse for sure.
@MoviesThatMaher took a more optimistic view, sharing, “I’m gonna embrace Joker: Folie à Deux for what it is... Embrace the madness because the days of ‘Every CBM feels the same’ & ‘the multiverse is overused’ will be back pretty soon.”
This tweet is an appreciation of how the film approaches things differently than a formula for comic book movies.
@ladygagastems provided a character analysis, writing, “Lee perfectly represents the audience... much like the audience’s reaction to the film itself. Todd Phillips was a genius.”
The user described it as a masterstroke by the director as their discomfort with Arthur's and Lee's respective relations to each other and the public.
@gabmonstere summarized the film's core theme, tweeting, “The simpler the message becomes... the world does not care about anyone's mental health, they care about the spectacle.”
This response shows that the movie's message about a society that doesn't care could be confirmed by the critical reception.
Why did Joker: Folie à Deux flop?
While one reason or a combination of those may lead to the box office failure of Joker: Folie à Deux, it is likely that the structure in the form of this musical sequel might be too alienating for the audiences who appreciated the raw take on Arthur Fleck's descent into madness seen in the first movie.
Perhaps Joker: Folie à Deux was always bound to defy expectations but went farther from the more traditional narrative that fans are trained to expect from a comic book movie.
Perhaps it was in its marketing that it also led people astray, thinking they were going for a spectacle rather than a deep and thoughtful probing of Arthur's psyche.
Future of DC Black Label films like Joker: Folie à Deux
At this juncture, however, with the spotty reception to Joker: Folie à Deux, the prospects for DC Black are anyone's guess. As bright or dark experiments were sought when it debuted, so does the mixed reception of the sequel question the viability of non-mainstream DC films.
If audiences shy away from riskier projects like this one, then Warner Bros. might rethink its strategy going forward as it doubles down in favor of more traditional narratives or finds a middle ground of some sort.
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Joker: Folie à Deux is available in theaters across the U.S.
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