Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution Jeff Goldstein has admitted Joker: Folie à Deux “didn’t land” well with audiences.
The DC Comics thriller was only able to pull in $114.8 million globally in its opening weekend at the box office, around $130 million less than its predecessor Joker brought in when it debuted in 2019 – and now the studio chief has admitted he is disappointed with the poor performance of Todd Phillips’ sequel.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Goldstein said: “The movie didn’t land with audiences the way we wanted it to.”
The film had a reported production budget of around $200 million, roughly three times what the original cost, plus additional funds for marketing and advertising.
READ MORE: Joker 2 Had the Lowest CinemaScore in Comic-Book Movie History
Joker: Folie à Deux — which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn — also didn’t impress critics or audiences, with the picture currently sitting at an average score of 32 percent on the film-reviewing website Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie follows Phoenix’s Joker, who is the mentally ill criminal Arthur Fleck, as he falls madly in love with Arkham Asylum inmate Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel.
Goldstein suggested audiences weren’t able to connect with Gaga’s interpretation of the character or director Phillips’ “deeper dive into mental illness.”
Even though the movie underwhelmed many, Phillips had previously revealed he had no plans to make a third installment in the series.
When The Hollywood Reporter asked the filmmaker if he was intending to make a follow-up flick, he said: “It’s not really where this movie is headed for me. I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films.”
Phillips had also insisted he was satisfied with his two Joker pictures, and felt like he and the team had “said what [they] wanted to in this world.”
As well ruling out a third movie, the director seemingly dismissed the idea of Lady Gaga getting a standalone Harley Quinn film.
Speaking to Variety, he said: “For me, I’ve always thought that these two movies kind of exist as their own thing. And, no. I know you’re trying to get the next thing, but I don’t want to go into that.”
Why Did ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Flop So Badly?
Joker grossed $1 billion and became a massive smash. The sequel, from many of the same creators, is looking like one of the costliest sequels ever. So what went wrong?