This week, the Warner Bros. Pictures made an alarming announcement about “Joker: Delirium for Two “, which promised to be one of his biggest films of the year. According to Variety, the company has already set the date for the film to be made available on digital platforms for purchase and rental: October 29th , less than a month after the film’s release in theaters which took place on October 3rd.
Films that promise to be big releases and receive an intense marketing campaign for months, as was the case with the long-awaited sequel starring Joaquin Phoenix, usually stay on screen longer before receiving a set date for release on digital platforms. However, “Joker 2”, initially seen as one of the biggest bets of the year for the studio, ended up becoming a big headache .
The numbers don’t lie
Last weekend, the production recorded the biggest box office drop in the second week of exhibition among films based on comic books in history. In its debut, the feature raised just US$39 million (R$ 221 million, in current conversion) at the box office — less than half of what “Joker” achieved in its first three days, even though it cost more than three times that of the first film.
“Delirio a Dois” even surpassed the negative marks of “The Marvels” and “The Flash”, considered commercial failures by the industry. To compensate for numbers well below expectations, Warner will need to work hard, especially since decided to finance the sequel himself . In the case of “Joker”, distributor Warner Bros. shared about half of production costs with producers Village Roadshow and Bron Studios .
Therefore, the company will have to bear the film’s losses alone, which, according to Variety, include more than US$100 million (R$567 million) only in marketing expenses in addition to production costs, which totaled US$ 190 million.
The contrasts between the sequel and the original title They also highlight how disastrous the new production was. Released in 2019, “Joker” cost just US$60 million (R$340 million) and paid for itself upon its debut, grossing US$96.2 million (R$545 million). At the end of its career on the big screen, production had already surpassed the US$ 1 billion (R$ 5.67 billion) mark worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film in history .
Critics also did not approve of “Delirium for Two”
A box office failure could have been justified if the film had won over critics, but that didn’t happen either. The musical did not please critics, receiving a “D ” in the audience’s CinemaScore, which made it the first comic book title to score so low in theater exit polls.
Currently, “Delirium a Two” has a 33% approval rating in the Rotten Tomatoes and score 45 on Metacritic . Without critical support, Warner is reevaluating its strategy for the 2025 Oscars. Currently, the studio has already started promoting “Dune 2” for the awards season, with several events scheduled to try to win over Academy voters with the sequel starring Timothée Chalamet.
Considering that Joker was nominated for 11 awards and won the Oscars for Best Sound and Best Actor in 2020, it was expected that the studio would be focused on promoting Joker 2 at related events. However, in the company’s calendar, There is still no mention of events dedicated to the awards for the film with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
The choice to release “Joker 2” at the Venice Film Festival also did the film no favors. Although it was applauded for 11 minutes, the reception from critics was less enthusiastic compared to the first film, which left the event in 2019 with the prestigious Golden Lion .
For “Joker 2” to have the same impact as the first title at the festival, the film should have attracted attention, whether by extremely favorable or unfavorable reviews — as is often the case at major European festivals. However, the answer to the sequence varied from warm to weak .
Without significant numbers, without critical support and probably with less time on display, it is already possible to say that Joker 2 did not achieve the expected success compared to the first film. If, in 2019, the clown made Warner and the world laugh, this time, no one was amused by the joke.
Watch the trailer for “Joker: Delusion for Two”
Check out images from “Joker: Delirium for Two”
Joaquin Phoenix “encouraged” Lady Gaga to “sing badly” in “Joker 2”
This content was originally published in After all, why is “Joker: Delirium for Two” being considered a fiasco? on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
