A highly anticipated sequel to the 2019 hit film "Joker" opened in theaters over the weekend, but did not live up to big expectations for the franchise.
What Happened: The sequel titled "Joker: Folie à Deux" sees Joaquin Phoenix reprise the titular role and brings in musician and actress Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.
The film opened with $40 million at the domestic box office and $81.1 million in international markets for $121.1 million in worldwide box office revenue.
The domestic total fell shy of projections of $50 million to $65 million, as reported by Variety. The range was already moved down from a previous estimate of $70 million according to the report.
An opening domestic box office total of $40 million also significantly trailed the $96.2 million domestic opening total from "Joker" in 2019.
While bringing in Lady Gaga added some fanfare to the sequel, it also brought about the unique structure of the film being a superhero movie and also a musical.
"Todd Phillips wanted to do something completely different, but musical numbers in a superhero film was always going to be a tough sell to mainstream audiences," Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock said, as shared by Variety.
Along with the poor box office performance, the film also faces low reviews from critics and moviegoers that could see a struggle to get people to watch the movie in theaters. The film has a critic rating of 33% and audience rating of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. On IMDb, the film has a 5.3 rating out of 10.
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Why It's Important: According to the report, the sequel film has a $200 million production budget and would have to hit $450 million at the box office to break even.
The film's poor performance could be a negative for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD, the studio behind the movie and owner of the DC Comics superhero brand. The original 2019 film was supposed to be a standalone, but a huge box office return led to the push for a sequel.
"Joker" grossed $335.5 million domestically and $1.08 billion worldwide. Before the 2024 hit "Deadpool & Wolverine," the 2019 film was the highest-grossing R-rated movie worldwide of all time.
Warner Bros. has struggled with its superhero franchises in recent years, despite having the rights to well-known characters such as Batman, Superman and others. While several movies have hit blockbuster figures, the company has not had the same success as rival Walt Disney Co DIS, who turned Marvel into one of the premier movie franchises that is an annual theatrical cash cow for the company.
Warner is undergoing a rebrand of the DC Comics film franchises and the latest movie release could push for more pressure on upcoming films.
The media company's latest release could have helped power a strong box office in 2024, but will likely end the year on a low note.
Warner Bros. has three of the top 10 grossing films both domestically and worldwide with "Dune: Part Two," "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" ranking fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, for domestic box office and fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively, for worldwide box office.
WBD Price Action: Warner Bros. Discovery stock traded down 1.80% at $7.64 Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $6.64 to $12.68. The stock is down 33% year-to-date in 2024.
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Photo: Via Official Trailer
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