The second weekend for «Joker 2» was marked by a record, but it is unlikely to please the creators.
In the United States, ticket sales for the film starring Joaquin Phoenix fell by 81% — with earnings of only $7.055 million (the worst performance for a DC movie). For comparison failed «Marvels» saw a 78% drop in its second weekend, while the worst ticket sales declines among DC films were previously reported by «The Flash» (down 73%) and «Suicide Squad» (down 72%).
The only achievement of «Joker 2» — is not the worst debut in DC. This record is still held by «Wonder Woman 1984», but it should be borne in mind that the film was released in the midst of the pandemic.
At the box office, «The Joker 2» was ahead of the animated film «Wild robot» and a Christmas slasher «The one that terrifies 3», which earned $13.45 million and $18.3 million respectively. In total, the global box office for Todd Phillips’ reached $165.3 million, while $200 million was spent on production (excluding advertising) — twice as much more than the money spent on the first movie.
In Ukraine, «Joker 2» earned UAH 20 million in its debut weekend (UAH 23.251 million, including pre-premiere screenings). For comparison, the first film, which was released in October 2019, debuted in Ukraine with UAH 31.8 million and earned over UAH 100 million over the entire release period.
Meanwhile, the scores on review aggregator sites for the sequel are «Joker» continue to show a decline: 33% from critics (the initial estimate was 60%) and 32% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
Director Todd Phillips has already stated that finished with DC, so we can expect a threequel, as well as a separate spinoff about Lady Gaga’s character Harley Quinn, with his participation. The singer herself has previously stated that the script for the second «Joker» they wrote it down literally on napkins — at the request of Joaquin Phoenix.
Source: Deadline