A few days ago, CinemaScore, the most important audience rating website in North America, gave "Joker 2: Double Delusion" a D rating.
You must know that even the 2015 version of "Fantastic Four", which was recognized as a superhero movie of the year, still received a C+ score on CinemaScore.
In North America, CinemaScore's score is still clearly reflected at the box office. Therefore, after the film was released in North America, even if it was as popular as the previous one, the box office of this film in the first weekend was still far lower than expected, and the final box office in the first weekend was only 37.67 million US dollars, which was still less than 38 million US dollars.
The media narrative at the time was that it was slightly lower than the opening weekend box office of "Doctor Night: Morbius", which was also a shameful comparison.
And the global box office of this film is 110 million US dollars, which is far lower than the performance of the previous "Joker".
Moreover, the investment in this film can be nearly 200 million US dollars, which is several times that of the first "Joker".
As a result, from the box office and word-of-mouth of the previous film, the box office exploded, the Oscar won the award, and the box office was far lower than expected.
The problem is that the lineups of the two films have not changed much.
So, what happened to this "Joker 2". It just so happened that the well-known North American media "Hollywood Reporter" released a new article, which is about "Joker 2".
After all, the film will be released in the mainland next week, so everyone can also learn more about it together.
The title of their article is very interesting, "Why No One Was Fired for 'Joker 2'"
So, why exactly?
See what The Hollywood Reporter had to say.
When Michael · De· Luca and Pamela· Abdi took over Warner Films in early June 2021, the first decision they made was to move forward with a sequel to Joker.
The Oscar-winning film, which grossed more than $1 billion, redefined the heights that comic book movies can reach. Nearly all of the key deals have been arranged by their predecessors, Toby · Emmerich, with A-list directors Todd · Phillips and big stars Joaquin · Phoenix each receiving $20 million, while the film's net budget is a whopping $190 million (the cost of the first film was $55 million).
Immediately after, Lady Gaga also joined the film, and her salary is $12 million.
Michael · De· Luca and Pamela· Abdi could have refused to make this sequel, but given the amazing success of the previous Joker, especially the record-breaking performance at the global box office. Including before the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, Joker was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
But this past weekend, everyone at Warners, including the executives, was shocked by the film's performance, as "Joker 2" completely collapsed at its first-week box office, opening the country at just $37.8 million and becoming the first comic book film in history to receive a D-rated theatrical rating.
According to a source, Todd · Phillips was alone on his own ranch this weekend.
On North American soil, "Joker 2" debuted well below DC's "The Flash" ($55 million) in 2023 and Marvel Studios' "Captain Marvel 2" ($46.1 million), both of which were box office failures that year.
It grossed even less than Sony's relatively low-budget "Doctor Night: Morbius" ($39 million).
A source close to the film said, "The film was completely rejected by the audience. ”
Of course, "Joker 2" was not the worst DC film at the North American box office, but it was indeed a very significant failure.
However, the decision to make this sequel was not a bad one, because no Hollywood boss would refuse to make such a commercially successful and critically acclaimed film sequel.
One of the top veteran producers and investors said, "It was a collective decision to fail, but the decision to make this film was the right one. ”
He noted that Todd · Phillips were brilliant directors and made billions for Warner because of the first "Joker" and "Hangover" series.
Still, everyone wonders how De · Luca and Abdi made this highly anticipated sequel completely far from public expectations.
One possible answer: director Todd · Phillips was given great autonomy in filming and final editing.
Including the fact that the film did not have an internal test screening, insiders said that it was a joint decision between the crew and Warner executives to avoid spoilers.
But this statement is actually a bit far-fetched, because this movie is not particularly afraid of spoilers, even a movie like "Avengers 4" that is afraid of spoilers has actually had many internal screenings before.
In the first Joker, former DC Films president Walter · Hamada was involved in the project and served as an executive producer. But this sequel, there is no DC high-level involvement, because DC is in a state of near chaos when the project is approved.
James· Gunn and Peter ·Safland were hired to manage the DC department and set up DC Studios, a process that would take a few more months.
Since director Todd · Phillips are best at comedy, Emmerich, the producer of the previous installment, severely limited the budget for the first "Joker" to $55 million and brought in several co-investors to reduce risk.
But in the second part, while the investment increased to almost 200 million, Warner also wanted to enjoy the benefits exclusively, so it did not introduce too many co-investors.
However, Warners did not try to embellish the film's performance, nor did it hint that it had a chance to bounce back. They didn't even blame each other internally, such as complaining about the marketing department or something.
"It's a huge disaster, but what are the consequences? Who is responsible? A source asked.
Recently, James · Gunn, who is in charge of DC film and television full-time production, and Todd · Phillips have all emphasized that they did not work together in "Joker 2".
James · Gunn recently answered a fan's question on social media, and fans asked why the film did not appear in front of the DC studio logo, James · Gunn said: "Because this is not a DC studio movie." He went on to add, "All future DC movies will be DC Studios. (There is a DC logo in the end credits).
Interestingly, perhaps out of politeness, James · Gunn had watched the film at the same time as De · Luca and Abdi.
At the same time, Todd · Phillips also confirmed that James · Gunn was indeed not involved in the film. His claim is that the film is more like a Warner movie than a DC movie.
Presumably, Todd had been working on this project before, so let him continue.
Of course, James · Gunn also has his own plans, after taking over DC, he is focusing on reshaping the DC brand, and at the same time, deliberately distances himself from previous DC works, especially the failure of "The Flash", of course, the previous "Joker" is also included.
In short, they want to do a new DC production.
In fact, as soon as they took over DC, they immediately distanced themselves from Joker 2.
In a press conference in January 2023, they outlined their future plans for DC Films, while noting that Joker 2 is not in their scope, but as part of Elseworld (a designation used to identify projects that are not part of the shared universe of movies, TV shows, and video games they're developing.) ）
They are working with Matt ·Reeves, the director of "Batman," on his Batman sequel, as well as the TV spin-off "Penguin" and other projects developed outside of their mainline universe.
Whether Joker 2 is an orthodox DC movie or not, it has become the fifth failed DC production since the release of Batman in March 2022, with recent failures including Black Adam, Thunder Shazam! Fury of the Gods", The Flash, and Aquaman 2.
"Blue Beetle" also did not perform well, but because of its low cost, it was not a complete failure.
James · Gunn and Safran hope to reverse DC's current embarrassing situation with Gunn's "Superman", which is set for release in July 2025.
However, according to a Warner insider, "This also puts unprecedented pressure on the Superman movie." ”
Some people pointed out that "Joker 2" is an expensive joke and a negation of the audience of the first "Joker".
Ironically, the end of the film shows a man carving a smile into his face (the frame is blurry and slightly off camera).
According to one source, the original script for the first film ended with Joaquin · Phoenix's "Joker" carving a smile on his face in front of a crowd of supporters.
But this idea was vetoed by Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight, because he thought that only his "Joker" (Heath · Ledger) should carve his face. But now Nolan is no longer at Warners, so no one has raised objections to the idea this time.
Another Warner insider said of Todd · Phillips, "He always trusted his instincts — and that took him quite a bit." He thinks people will understand the joke. ”
In fact, neither Todd· Phillips nor Joaquin · Phoenix were unsure whether to make a sequel, and they even considered a musical on Broadway instead.
Eventually, they decided to make the film and invited Lady Gaga to play a character inspired by Halle · Quinn. And according to sources, the idea for this sequel was born in Joaquin · Phoenix's dream, and he and Todd · Phillips together brought the idea to Emmerich (producer).
Finally, some say that Joker 2 is a very expensive art film. But when asked who the film's target audience is, an outsider summed it up this way:
"It's Joaquin."
The film will be released next week, and everyone can also go to witness it together and see what happened in this movie.